Stone Fruit Upside-Down Cake with Shout-out

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Analise, started her own food blog a few months ago. We have been friends since 3rd grade or so when we met in Girl Scouts (see my Samoa cake post) and we both share a love for strange nerdy humor and good food.

I enjoy her recipes, tips, advice, and wit so much and I think you will as well. So please, if you get a chance, check it out: www.galleykitchengal.com

This recipe is one of Analise's first posts. I have been using my own cast iron skillet for meats and frying but I had yet to use it for baking. This recipe, plus a bunch of overripe fruit, was the perfect excuse to give baking in my skillet a try.

I made this cake one afternoon and shortly thereafter took a bunch of it to the dog park to share with my friends, and then the next day to school. It was an overwhelming hit! The cake is buttery and light, with the sweet yet tart fruit on top. The best part of this cake is that you don't have to use certain fruits, just use whatever is on hand. I used a very overripe nectarine, a pear, a green apple, and some maraschino cherries.

Stone Fruit Upside-Down Cake
http://galleykitchengal.com/2012/06/23/iron-it-out-stone-fruit-upside-down-cake-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/

I'll let you check out her link for the recipe and I'll just give you my photos

Yummy late summer fruits

Sliced up, ready to go

Arranged all pretty (get creative!)

Golden and aromatic

Flipped out!

Check this out!

This cake get 5 stars for taste and 5 stars for easiness!!!

p.s. Please be careful with your skillet! They get very hot and its easy to forget that its hot and grab the handle. A good idea is to slip an oven mitt over the handle as soon as you take it out of the oven to protect yourself for a quick memory lapse. Don't ask me why I stress this...

p.s.s. Take care of your pan! Don't use soap on it and PLEASE don't put it in the dishwasher! Just scrub it with a little kosher salt, let it dry fully, and wipe it with oil before storing it. Keep your pan happy and you'll be happy!

Bumbleberry Pie

Bumbleberry Pie??? What is a Bumbleberry??? 

There is no such thing as a bumbleberry. In this case, bumbleberry refers to a bunch of yummy summer fruits: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, apples (kinda fall-ish, but whatever), rhubarb, peaches, apricots, etc. Pretty much any fruits you love thrown together in a pie. Yum!

   PIE!!!

Quick note: This pie crust is different than other's I've made. I usually use shortening, but this one called for butter. It was good, flaky, and didn't melt completely when being rolled out in my 80 degree kitchen. I'll probably use it again, but I still love the texture of a shortening crust. It will probably depend on the ambient temp.

Crust:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup cold butter (mine was frozen)
1/4 cup cold water

You can always double the crust recipe if you are worried about not having enough for your pan and the lattice top.

       FILLING:

1 medium tart apple, peeled and diced
1 cup diced fresh or frozen rhubarb, thawed (If you can find it. If not substitute for another fruit. I used a peach)
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed and drained (I would use blackberries next time)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained
1 cup sliced fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed and drained
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture ensembles coarse crumbs (This can also be done in a food processor. Just pulse until you get a fine sand like mix).

Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until a ball forms. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to within 1 in. beyond edge of plate.

In a large bowl, combine the filling ingredients; pour into crust. Roll out the remaining pastry; make a lattice crust. Seal and flute edges. Cover edges loosely with foil.

Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°; remove foil. Bake 40-45 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Banana Cake with Nutella Frosting

Behold the power of Pinterest. Karin found this recipe and gave me a strong hint that she thought I should make it. I took the hint.

Karin and I are both huge fans of banana cakes/breads/assorted desserts, as well as nutella. And when you put the two together... WOW.

The best thing about this cake (besides its sheer awesomeness) is that its a really easy cake to make and you can use up those overripe bananas that no one in the house will eat or that you've thrown in the freezer with good intentions (I think we all have a few black bananas in the back of our freezers).

Without further ado:

Banana Cake with Nutella Frosting (via http://thegingersnapgirl.blogspot.com)

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar (the original recipe call for superfine sugar, but regular worked just fine)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 9 x 13 cake pan with parchment paper.  Or alternatively you can butter and flour the pan, knocking off excess flour.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time and beat on low until just combined.  Add in vanilla and mashed bananas and mix until just combined.  With mixer on low add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until just combined.  Add half the buttermilk.  Alternate flour and buttermilk, starting and ending with buttermilk.  Do not over mix.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake on center rack for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn cake out onto a cooling rack and remove parchment (or just leave it in the pan and serve it from there).  Allow cake to cool completely before frosting (or, if you're impatient like me, put the frosting on while its still warm and dig in. either way).

For the frosting:

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup Nutella
3 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream (or condensed milk) (or skim milk... with all that butter it will be fine)

In a stand mixer beat butter and Nutella on medium, about 1 minute until fully combined.  Add in confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time.  Mixture will appear crumbly.  Add in 2 tablespoons of cream and continue beating on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes.  Add additional tablespoons of cream until the frosting reaches a soft, spreadable consistency.  I used 4 tablespoons in total.  Generously spread frosting over cooled cake.  For a smooth finish, run your knife or offset spatula under hot water and gently smooth the surface, rinsing off it off after each swipe (or just dollop it on and enjoy).  

This cake is so moist and tender

warm cake, gooey frosting, large fork

Also... just to give you a peak into my valentines creations:

Home-dipped chocolate strawberries

Cranberry Sauce - Now Can Free!

Growing up I was never a fan of cranberry sauce (or juice). But now, as an adult, I've developed a liking for it. This year, as part of my Thanksgiving meal, I decided I'd like to have some cranberry sauce. But me being me, I wanted to make it myself.

Turns out, making cranberry sauce is super easy.

Now I know that we are firmly past Thanksgiving, but thing recipe is a great addition to any holiday meal (Christmas or Easter). It is also a surprising ingredient in other dishes (more on that later).

Orange Cranberry Sauce:
1 12oz bag of whole cranberries (found in the produce section near the berries at my grocery store), washed and picked over
1 small orange or two tangerines
1 cup sugar
1 cup water



Directions: Combine water and sugar over high heat in a medium saucepan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. When the liquid boils, add the cranberries and diced orange (add some rind if you want an extra orange kick), and return to a boil. Simmer for ~10 minutes. The cranberries will pop and break down as it cooks and thickens. Cool and serve, makes about 2 cups.

If you're like me and enjoy cranberry sauce, but not in huge amounts, make this party pleaser: Cocktail Meatballs

Make up your favorite meatball (or buy them, I won't judge), cook them up, and place the meatballs into a crock pot or saucepan (on low) with 1 cup of the cranberry sauce and 1 cup of bbq sauce. Heat through and serve.

Even cranberry haters will love this dish!

Other assorted Thanksgiving pictures: 

Our HUGE 19lb turkey

Our Thanksgiving Dinner: for 2