I thought upside down was one word. I was wrong.
You knew it wasn’t one word. You’re smarter than me.
Let’s learn a lesson… because I just learned it, and I want to share it with you.
Upside down is two words when you write something like “Oh crap… that pie just landed on the floor upside down!” Adverb nation. Wait… right?
Upside-down is hyphenated when it’s used as an adjective like, “Oh crap… Joy is totally obsessed with strawberries right now, and that Strawberry Upside-down Cake looks major.” Upside-down describes the cake… working overtime in adjective land.
… And this… this is why I’m not an English teacher.
Class dismissed.
I shoved this cake in my mouth on Sunday morning as I was rushing off to church.
I wasn’t late.
Ok… I wasn’t that late.
My point is that this cake is super easy to throw together on a Sunday morning.
And! It’s best eaten warm (when you’re in a hurry).
The cake batter is a simple brown sugar and sour cream cake. It’s sweet and moist, with a delicate but sturdy crumb. How’s that for food words?
Easy, uncomplicated, summer weekend dessert.
If you wanted to experiment with other berries for this recipe, I’d totally support you!
Strawberry Upside-down Cake with Cardamom
makes: one 8-inch cake
For the Topping:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup sliced strawberries
For the Cake:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2/3 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
I used an 8-inch round with 3-inch tall sides. You can also use a 9-inch round with 2-inch sides.
Place butter in the cake pan and place in the oven. When butter is melted, remove pan from the oven. Using two pot holders, tilt the pan around and around, coating the sides of the pan with butter. Once sides are coated, set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Cream until slightly pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop mixer, scrape down the bowl with a spatula, and add egg and vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute.
Turn the mixer off, scrape the bowl, and add the dry ingredients. Beat on low speed while adding the sour cream. Beat until the batter just comes together. Batter will be pretty thick. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish incorporating ingredients with a spatula.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar into the melted butter in the cake pan. Sprinkle strawberry slices over the butter and sugar in a single layer. Spoon batter over the strawberries and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cake rest for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the cake and inverting the cake onto a cake plate. Serve warm with sweetened sour or whipped cream.
Nancy
Made this for Fathers Day last weekend. Received rave reviews from the whole family. Even the ones that aren’t dessert eaters (!) had a second piece. Thanks Joy :)
Nancy
Perfect for Father’s Day!
Rebekah
I was desperate for a strawberry upside-down cake (too many strawberries in the fridge). I had no cardamom, so I dumped in some garam masala, since it was the only thing in my spice cupboard with cardamom in it. Thanks for this recipe…it turned out great!
Niki
Man oh man that is good! Wouldn’t change a thing about this recipe. Just delicious.
Joy (not a baker at all)
This is the first upside down cake I ever made and it was awesome–totally demystified this approach for me. Thank you! This recipe will be in regular rotation for sure.
Bob
Just made this cake, looked absolutely horrible. It was not a red color but more of an ugly pink.
Claudia Letizia
Hi Joy,
I have a question. Is it best to use a cake pan with removable bottom for this cake or a normal one?
Once I made an upside down cake with that kind of pan and it was a mess, because a lot of the fruit juice leaked through. On the other hand, I can imagine that without removable bottom it could be somewhat harder to get the cake out of the pan.
Please, give me some advice! >.<
joythebaker
Hello Claudia! Thanks for the question. I used a regular cake pan, and it worked perfectly. I made sure to grease the pan really well, though. But if you’re afraid that the cake will stick, then by all means use a springform pan. It’ll still work! Just make sure it’s the same size as the cake pan you would’ve used!