Sweet Cherry Upside-Down Cake

By Jerrelle Guy

Updated Aug. 4, 2020

Sweet Cherry Upside-Down Cake
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
45 minutes, plus cooling
Rating
4(292)
Comments
Read comments

There’s a little black pepper in this cake, which provides just enough heat to enhance the sweetness of the cherries. If you’re worried about the pepper, cut back on the amount called for, but if you’re excited about it, you may want to double it. This is a sweet, rustic and rich upside-down cake that’s sturdy enough to hold up to its juicy fruit topping. Once the finished cake gets inverted onto a platter, the extra cherry juice soaks back into the cake as it cools, which means it gets better as it sits. Serve the cake with lemon whipped cream made by beating cold heavy cream with the leftover lemon juice and some sugar until stiff. It’s helpful for covering up any imperfections in the cake, too!

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Ingredients

  • Yields One 9-inch cake

    • For the Cake

    • 1pound/450 grams sweet cherries, halved and pitted (about 2½ cups)
    • ¼packed cup/55 grams light brown sugar
    • 2teaspoons lemon juice
    • ¾teaspoon kosher salt
    • ¼teaspoon coarse ground black or white pepper, plus more if you like
    • 8tablespoons/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled to room temperature
    • 2large eggs, whites and yolks separated
    • ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
    • ½cup/120 milliliters sour cream
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ½teaspoon baking soda
    • 1¾cups/225 grams all-purpose flour

    For the Lemon Whipped Cream (optional)

    • 1cup/240 milliliters cold heavy whipping cream
    • 1tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1tablespoon granulated sugar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)

294 calories; 15 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 23 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 170 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a 9-inch cake pan (or cast-iron skillet), add the cherries, brown sugar, lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon salt, the pepper, and 2 tablespoons melted butter; toss gently to combine. Place in the oven for up to 10 minutes to begin softening the cherries while you make the cake batter.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, granulated sugar, sour cream, vanilla and baking soda with the remaining 6 tablespoons melted butter and ½ teaspoon salt until smooth. Sprinkle the flour over top then fold it in until evenly combined and a thick batter is formed.

  3. Step 3

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a medium mixing bowl with a handheld electric beater, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes or until stiff. Add ⅓ of the beaten egg whites to the cake batter and gently fold, then add the remaining egg whites and fold until fully incorporated, trying to keep as much air as possible in the whites.

  4. Step 4

    Remove the hot pan from the oven, shake it gently to toss the fruit a final time, then dollop the cake batter over the top, and gently spread it evenly to the edges. (It’s OK if some fruit juice or cherries pool over the edges of the batter.)

  5. Step 5

    Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, run a butter knife around the edges, and then allow it to rest for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting it onto a lipped platter to catch any juices.

  6. Step 6

    Once the cake has cooled, make the lemon whipped cream, if desired: In the cleaned bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a medium mixing bowl using a handheld beater, add the heavy cream, lemon juice and granulated sugar, and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds to thicken and combine, then turn the speed to high and beat until desired stiffness.

  7. Step 7

    Serve the cake at room temperature, with lemon whipped cream, if using.

Ratings

4 out of 5
292 user ratings
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Comments

Steve at the cabin

For those not wanting to turn on a hot oven, we cooked the entire ensemble in the outdoor grille using a cast iron skillet. We used Trader Joe's frozen"Very Cherry Berry Blend" which created lots of berry juice that settled nicely into the cake mix. Everything turned out perfect - even the cake mix at a high altitude (8,000 ft), and the flipping of the mixture into a glass container was easy. The whipped cream topping is essential and we found the cake best a day after being in the frig.

jeanaiko

Cardamon is a great sub for black pepper. It has the flavor of white pepper without the heat, and goes very well with strawberries. Strong stuff so don't use too much!

Sue

I turned this into a gluten free recipe by substituting 1 cup 1-for1 gf flour and 3/4 cup almond flour. I added a tsp of baking powder to help lighten it. The batter was a little heavy for folding in egg whites, so I'd cut down on the gf flour next time, but it was delicious nonetheless!

Carolyn H

I was disappointed with this cake. It was too dense. In the future, I’ll stick with the classic plum torte and substitute cherries.

Kate Gadz

Made this in a cast iron skillet - wasn’t super exact in measurements and didn’t spread it out evenly - didn’t matter - just wasn’t the most beautiful, still tasted delicious - lemony whipped cream was a perfect pair, wouldn’t skip that part

Elan

I stuck to the recipe and t worked fine—no need for additional liquid before folding in. The egg whites. My cherries were dark so the appearance was quite different. Delicious cake. We ate it with vanilla ice cream rather than the lemon whipped cream. I would definitely make this cake again. I weighed the flour rather than measure by volume. I wonder it people who had to add extra liquid used volume measures and ended up with too much flour as a result.

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