Seasoned to Taste: Upside-down Gingerbread

 Change is the only constant in life. We know this. But it still sometimes comes as a shock how swift and ruthless change can be. Whether you saw it coming or were blindsided, the economic downturn feels like Change with a capital “C.”. And while some of us have been struggling for quite some time, there are a lot more folks who now feel like their worlds have suddenly been turned upside down.

“Let them eat tracksuits,” says the full-page newspaper ad for Juicy Couture. But many of us are looking to the kitchen, not to the mall, for some centeredness and consolation. And a little bit of humor always helps, too, so when the world seems turned upside down, why not a little upside-down cake?

Apples or pears, both in season and available at good prices, can form the fruity basis for flip-flop gingerbreads that are delicious distractions from the downturn. Both recipes use low-cost buttermilk, which along with the fruit adds to the credit side of the nutritional balance sheet. Both recipes have surprise ingredients unexpected in gingerbread (a bit of cocoa in one, a dab of dry mustard in the other). We only can hope there are similar unexpected elements out there to be mixed into the economic recovery recipe being whipped up in Washington.

But while we worry and wait, there’s comfort in cake. And with topsy-turvy desserts this tasty, maybe we even can find the positive in things being upside down!

Apple Upside-Down Gingerbread

For stronger ginger flavor, replace the dried ginger with three tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger and three tablespoons minced crystallized ginger. If you don’t own an 11x7-inch pan, you can bake the batter in a 9-inch-square pan.

Apple Topping

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¾ cup light brown sugar

3 tart apples (such as Granny Smith or Jonathan), peeled, halved, cored and sliced thin

Gingerbread

2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder

8 tablespoons unsalted butter,  melted, then cooled to room temperature

¾ cup unsulphured molasses

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

½ cup buttermilk

½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease sides of 11x7-inch baking pan. Pour melted butter into pan; spread brown sugar evenly over pan bottom. Arrange apple slices, overlapping slightly upon brown sugar mixture.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and cocoa in medium bowl. Beat butter, molasses and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Beat in egg until incorporated. Gradually add buttermilk and milk until combined.

Add dry ingredients to liquid; beat on medium speed until batter is smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Do not overmix. (If using fresh ginger, batter will be lumpy.) Pour batter over apple slices.

Bake until top springs back when lightly touched, and edges have pulled away from the pan sides, 50 to 60 minutes. Set pan on wire cake rack and let cool for 5 minutes, invert onto serving plate, cut into squares, and serve. Serves 8

Source: Cook’s Illustrated

Pear Upside-Down Gingerbread Cake

3 peeled small pears, cored and cut lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick slices (about 1 pound)

2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger, divided

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cooking spray

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

¼ cup butter or stick margarine, softened

1 large egg

½ cup low-fat buttermilk

¼ cup molasses

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine pears, 1 tablespoon ginger, and lemon juice. Coat a 9x2-inch round cake pan with cooking spray; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Arrange pears in bottom of pan in a circular pattern.

Combine brown sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Add buttermilk, molasses and 1 tablespoon ginger; beat until well blended. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (flour through nutmeg). Add flour mixture to batter; stir until well blended. Pour over pears. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan 20 minutes on a wire rack. Place a plate sprinkled with powdered sugar upside down on top of cake pan; invert cake onto plate. Makes 8 servings.

Source: Cooking Light

Lynne Ireland lives to eat and welcomes comments and questions from others who do (or don’t). Contact her at savor@journalstar.com.