17 October 2008

Cherry-Almond Upside Down Cake, and a Tag!




I've been tagged! Twice!

Not only by my girl Beth, Mommy Extraordinaire to Ethan, but also by my fellow-Eldridge-bride and pal Michelle. Yay! I'm one in a long line of Realies getting tagged for this thing ;) Here we go:

5 Joys
1. Baking and cooking (both are relaxing to me)
2. Chillin’ with the Hubs and R2D2
3. Nighttime snowfalls
4. Family: I luff you all, my lovelies
5. Christmastime – that period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is just so lovely!

5 Fears
1. Tornadoes
2. Losing an eye or a finger (seriously, big fears of mine)
3. Losing someone I love
4. Since we bought the house – something happening so we struggle financially
5. I’m what you’d call a “nervous flyer” – I do it (because honestly, in this day and age, you can’t not fly), but I do it with clammy hands. Hurtling through the air in a metal tube is just not my idea of fun, sorry.

5 Obsessions
1. Home decorating
2. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
3. Hanging out (cyber-style or in real life) with the RB gals
4. Saison
5. Baking baking baking :)

5 Surprising Facts
1. I cannot make decent pie crust to save my life.
2. I am allergic to scallops.
3. I love going to new hair stylists, just because they generally fawn all over my hair (it's boring mouse brown, but also very thick, soft, and shiny).
4. I played the french horn in junior high.
5. Remember how my work was opening a time capsule left by the Beanie Weenie factory? Well, we had this huge company unveiling of the canisters... and they were empty. Empty! It was like a giant practical joke.

Now, try this lovely grown-up cake. Super delicious, and healthy too! That sweet cherry wine reduction is just divine.

Cherry-Almond Upside Down Cake
(from Cooking Light, June 2005)



Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. sugar, divided
1/4 c. dry red wine
2 lbs. dark sweet cherries, pitted (I used frozen, and thawed them overnight in the fridge)
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Cooking spray
3/4 c. whole blanched almonds, toasted
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and wine in a large saucepan over low heat; stir until sugar dissolves.

Increase heat to medium-high; bring to a boil. Stir in cherries. Reduce heat to low, and cook 5 minutes or until cherries just begin to soften, stirring frequently. Remove cherries from pan with a slotted spoon, reserving liquid in pan. Place cherries in a bowl; stir in lemon juice. Arrange cherries in an even layer in bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.


Cook wine mixture over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until reduced to 1/4 cup. Remove from heat; drizzle over cherries in prepared pan.

Place almonds and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor; process until finely ground (do not process to a paste).


Place eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy; slowly add remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until thick and lemon-colored (about 2 minutes).

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt.

Gradually sift flour mixture over egg mixture; fold in. Fold in ground almond mixture. Carefully spoon batter over cherries in prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Place a plate upside down on top of cake; invert onto plate.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dying to make this. I love cherry!

On week two of no one converting my gas range to propane. GRR.

I'm dying to bake and cook outside of microwaving and crockpots and waffle irons.

Snooky doodle said...

hmm this looks corgeous. And it doesn't contain any fat. Super !!! :-)

Maria said...

I love almonds, I am sure they go great in this cake.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I adore any kind of upside-down cake, and this one looks fabulous!