Cherry Upside-Down Cake

Every year the same thing happens. Cherry season hits, I indulge and buy a few pounds of those cherries with great intentions of making something great, something to share, but then I always end up eating them all myself. What can I say, I love me some cherries.

But this year I realized my mistake. If I really did want to make something  with cherries other then eating them all,  I needed to buy a shit ton of cherries so I would have enough for my belly and some to share.  So I bought like 6 pounds at once so I would have to bake something before they went bad.  (Honestly I could have eaten them all but I was able to control myself.) 

I was going to make a straight up cherry pie, put then that would take me making pie dough, which I really like to do in most cases, but was just not feeling it this week. Plus that would have require a hell of a lot more cherry pitting which again, wouldn't have been that bad, but I was just hot really feeling it. But upside down cake, that I was feeling.  I always like the visual aspect of an upside- down cake so cake it was, cake it be.  Upside side down cake with a little lemony lemoness and  lots of gooey cherry goodness. Simple and stunning and better then cherry pie because it is baked upside-down and you can't bake a pie upside-down. 

I did good. (Here I pat myself on the back, give myself a high five, and finish off with a double thumbs up) 

The stuff. Flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in the bowl. A bowl of fresh cherries. White sugar, canola oil, soy milk, a lemon, a little apple cider vinegar, some vanilla extract, melted earth balance, and a bit of brown sugar. 

This is the most labor intensive part, pitting cherries. What I do is cut the cherries in half and then with my thumb, dislodge the pit. Pile the un-pitted halves to the side and once done pitting, double check you got all the pits out. No one will like you, including yourself, if they bit down and crack a tooth on a cherry pit. 

Cherries are pitted so now take the melted earth balance and brown sugar and mix together in the bottom of your greased cake pan. I lined my with parchment which I think was a good idea so you might want to do that too. Mix the mixture around to evenly coat the bottom then place the cherries in, singled layered and not overlapping, but get as many in as you can. (You can do them all facing hte same way like me or not, I don't know if it would really make much of a difference.) 

Time for cake batter. Mix the sugar and zest of the lemon into the bowl of flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. 

In goes oil. milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Give it all a good whisk 

Stop when it is all mixed and incorporated. Don't want to over mix or the cake with get tough. 

Batter gets poured right onto cherries in pan and the whole sha-bang gets popped into the oven for about 50 minutes to turn into golden brown, upside-down cherry greatness. 

Now for the best part, you must wait at least a few minutes, if not ten, to pop the cake right side up? Or os it now upside down? And be careful cause it's hot. Tip . Before inverting cake, run a knife around the edge of the pan to make sure cake is loose. Once cake is upside down on cooling rack (use a cooling rack, not a plate so the  bottom dset getting soggy), give the pan a good tap tap with a wooden spoon until the cake pops out.  If a cherry or two got stuck, its ok, just stick it back to the cake.. no one will know. 

And loooooook at that. Upside down cakes are always like magic. 

As you can see, it didn't stand a chance. A piece cut within minutes because how can you not.

I finally did it, I shared my cherry stash, and I feel good about it because all the people looooved the cake so it was worth it. And I still have cherries left for me!!

Now go upside-down a cake. 

-C

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Cherry Upside-Down Cake

makes a 10 inch upside-down cake. 

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup neutral flavored oil (I used canola) 
• 2 tablespoons earth balance or vegan butter substitute 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 lemon 
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups sliced in half and pitted cherries
• 3 tablespoon brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. 

Start by rinsing and pitting cherries. Remove all stems, cut cherries in half, and remove pits. I use my thumb and just kind of pop them out, but do it anyway you feel like. If using a fancy de-pitter, you are going to want to cut the cherries in half.  After you have removed all pits, DOUBLE CHECK that there are no pits.. Pits will crack a tooth for reals.

Grease and line a 10 inch cake pan with parchment. Dump the melted earth balance and brown sugar in bottom and mix together. Spread mixture all around then grab sliced cherries and place them, single layered, into mixture. Get as many as you can in there without overlapping.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and soda, the salt, the white sugar, and the zest of the lemon. Once fully combined add in the soy milk, apple cider vinegar, the oil, and the vanilla. Mix that all up until just combined. Pour batter all over the cherries in the pan. Level out batter and pop into the oven (middle rack) for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is a nice deep golden brown and a tester stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Once the cake is bake, let it sit on counter for about 10 minutes.  Once slightly cooled, grab knife and run it along the edge of the cake. Take a cooling rack and place on top of cake then flip upside down. Tap around he pan with a spoon then gently lift pan away. 

Tada. You should have yourself something fantastic and great. And no worries if a cherry or two got stuck to pan, just pop it back on to the cake.

And now all you need to do is eat the cake. So do that. 

Cinnamon Walnut Rhubarb Bread

The day started off with rhubarb soup and ended in cinnamon walnut rhubarb bread. The bread was a star, the soup, not so much, which sucked because I was so excited and so sure it was going be fantastic. Tomatoes, rhubarb, and fresh ginger. Doesn't that sound good? I still have hopes for the combination, but the batch I made was way way to acidic and thick and spicy because I added so much fresh ginger to it that it made the mr's eye water and my nose run a little. So yeah, the soup needed work, but I was not going to end my day of rhubarb cooking with a fail. Also I felt like I owed it to the mr to make him something that he found edible. He really did not like the soup.

I knew the mr wanted (or at least he hinted at) pie but I had no time for pie. I already spent the morning making not so good soup and I had shit I needed to do. Pie would just take a little to long. Quick bread was more in my time frame. A few minutes to chop and mix, toss it into the oven for a while. and done.  I had time to cleaned up, run to the post office and bank (I should probably tell you not to leave your oven on when you are not in the house, but I do, but only for short periods of time. And don't tell the mr. He will kill me) and come back to the house not on fire and fresh cinnamon walnut rhubarb bread. I felt redemption, even this it was not pie. The mr didn't complain, not one bit. 

And by the way, the soup made it's way into a different batch of soup that had other stuff in it and it WAS fantastic. 

The stuff. Rhubarb and walnuts and a bowl with flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Also have coconut oil, brown sugar, soy milk, and a little dish or more brown sugar, cinnamon, and coconut oil for the topping. 

Chop rhubarb and walnuts into small pieces, not tiny pieces, but not big ones either. 

Mix the brown sugar and coconut oil into dry mixture, then add in the milk and vinegar and mix until just incorporated (don't over mix).

Don't forget to mix in the rhubarb and walnut pieces. 

Pour batter into a greased pan and then its  time for the cinnamon sugar topping. (cinnamon+sugar+coconut oil=rainbows?)

Cinnamon sugar topping  gets crumbled on and I found a few stray walnuts so I tossed those on top too.  

Now it's time for the oven.

Look at that, fresh from the oven. So handsome.  Pop it out of the tin and get it onto a wire rack to cool. 

And when it's cooled a little and you are ready to take a seat, you slice and eat.

-C

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Cinnamon Walnut Rhubarb Bread

makes one loaf

• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups brown sugar 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup soy or another plant milk
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted and cooled)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 stalks rhubarb (2 cups chopped)
• 1/2 cup walnuts

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 hefty tablespoon cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350

Chop rhubarb into small 1/2 inch pieces. If your walnuts are whole, chop those up into small pieces as well.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix together then add in the brown sugar and  the melted coconut oil and mix. Then add in the say milk  and apple cider vinegar and mix until all is incorporated.  Stir in the chopped rhubarbd and walnuts.

Pour batter into a well greases bread pan. For the cinnamon topping, just add the cinnamon and brown sugar to the melted coconut oil and mix.  Crumble the mixture on top of the bread. if you have a few more walnuts, you can toss those on top too. Pop bread into preheated oven.

Bake for 60 -70 minutes  or until a tester stuck into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. When ready, cut and eat.

Bread lasts 3 day in airtight container on counter, a few days longer in the fridge.  Freezes well. 

Lemon Rainbow Sprinkle Cupcakes

The person that invented sprinkles is a very smart person. Whoever they are, I wonder if they new exactly what they were doing, that even the mention of sprinkles can, and does, drive a person (mostly littles) mad with the need for sugar. Just the mere glimpse of the rainbow colored topping was enough to bribe a few little littles into somewhat decent behaviors, even for just a little while (especially when I let them know about the sprinkles on the inside, well they just snapped into line). No rainbow sprinkle cupcake if you don't clean up and eat all you peas!. That goes for everyone, not just the littles. Haha. 

Have you notice that most of the snow melted and it's finally spring? Whoop whoop. Now that the house is feeling fresh because the windows and doors are thrown open, I feel the need to blast music and bake. I went with cupcakes because I haven't in a while, and lemon because its fresh, and sprinkles because we need to celebrate spring and really, sprinkles in and on everything will never be a bad idea.

 I have more or less been using kind of the same recipe for a vegan vanilla cake for a while. And while it was a good cake, it was never a great cake. When I made these I decided to tweak it a bit and they came out awesome. Finally a great cake. The mr, the littles, everyone who has eaten one has reached for another. And eaten the crumbs off the table and licked the parchment wrappers clean. The littles even asked if they could have the recipe so when they grow up they can make them by themselves. (So cute.) A cake winner here for sure.  

So if you are feeling sprinkly and lemony and want a sweet, then go, go to your kitchen. Throw open the windows, blast some tunes, and bake away. 

The stuff. Vegan butter, oil, sugar, and a few lemons. Flour, baking soda and powder, salt, plant milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract*, and of course sprinkles. 

*I used imitation vanilla extract because I have read in more then a few placed that the typical funfetti cake uses it. So I did and there were zero complaints. 

Start by mixing the dry together along with the zest of the lemon. After zesting, add the juice of one of the lemons and the apple cider vinegar the milk and give it a mix. 

Beat together the sugar, butter, and oil until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla. 

Then to mix it all together. Interchange adding dry to the butter mixture and beating, then add some milk mixture. Repeat until lit's all mixed and beat just until everything is all incorporated. Don't over beat the mixture. 

And for the happiness. Fold in the sprinkles.

Cupcake tin lined and greases. Fill each equally until you have no batter left. 

Into a hot oven they go to bake and be great.

Baked and looking all sprinkly.  Get them out of the tin and onto a wire rack to cool. 

While the cupcakes are cooling, make thefrosting. Vegan butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice  with a splash of vanilla. Or if you want to make it all vanilla, omit lemon zest and juice with  more vanilla extract and a little splash or plant milk. 

All beaten together until nice and thick and creamy. 

Then it's time. Get them frosted.

And don't forget to add more sprinkles.

Now you are done and now you eat.

The rainbow coffee cup was a completely coincidence. 

-C

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Lemon Rainbow Sprinkle Cupcakes 

makes 12 cupcakes 

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup vegan butter
• 1/4 cup neutral oil
• 3/4 cup plant milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used imitation vanilla)
• zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 1 lemon
• teaspoon apple cider vinegar 
• 1/4 cup spinkles 

For the frosting 

• 1/3 cup vegan butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 lemon (zest and juice )
•  1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

Preheat 350

First zest the lemons because it is alway easier to zest a whole lemon then a half of one. Measure out the milk and add In the juice of one lemon and the apple cider vinegar. In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and  the zest of the two lemons . In another bowl beat together the sugar, vegan butter, oil, and the vanilla. Interchange adding  the dry mixture into the butter sugar mixture and bating with the wet mixture. Once all is together,  beat only until all the ingredients are incorporated, then stop so you don't over beat. 

Grease and line a cupcake pan and fill each mold evenly until batter is gone.. Bake for about 20- 22  minutes or until a slight golden brown and a tester comes out clean.  Once baked, remove from pan and place on a rack to cool completely. 

While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Beat together the butter, sugar, and the juice and zest of a lemon until light and fluffy. IF the frosting seems to thin add in a splash of milk or too the, a few tablespoons more of powdered sugar.  !f you prefer vanilla frosting, omit the lemon and add another 1/2  teaspoon of vanilla and a splash of plant milk. 

Once cupcakes are cooled, frost them and cover with sprinkles. 

Eat at your leisure. Cupcakes will last in a airtight container for 3-4 days but really, they probably will be gone before you get a chance to hide them. 

Plum Cake

This summer I have gotten like 5 lbs of blackberries, a humongo bowl of raspberries, so so so many pears, and lots of random veggies, all from my neighbors and their gardens We live in a very giving and generous neighborhood. And it helps that they can't possible eat all that they grow and that I am always willing to take it off their hands (and put it into my mouth) In return we have given out rhubarb and jars of honey and overall charm and smiles. (the charm and smiles are on the mr to give out)

The other day on a walk, the mr and I saw this sign outside of a neighbors house. Plums, please take some! Well pull my arm, I guess I will have too, because the sign said please right? Anyway, these little plums, not sure what kind they are, but they are so good. Sweet and bite sized and pretty. I ate a few then decided that I needed to share my shared plums and went about making a cake to stick those said share plums into.

I made the cake, invited my mom and a couple of sibs over. Mom didn't come but Barb and Paul did so they got the cake, Well they got half the cake, the mr ate the rest. I was told that this cake is one of the best. I bet it is when you used share plums because sharing is caring and sharing cake is all that good stuff.

The stuff. A bowl with flour, baking soda baking powder, and slat. Then you have brown sugar, coconut oil. vanilla extract, soy milk, and a little apple cider vinegar. And plums of course.

Once you have started preheating the oven, cut your plums in half and remove the pit.The best way to do this is to run the knife along the pit all the way around the plum and then twist to break in half. Pop the pit out with you finger.

Set plums aside while mixing cake

Warmed coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla all get mixed together into a smooth consistency then dumped into the bowl of dry stuff.

Soy milk and vinegar get added and mixed in.

Cake batter ready to go.

Batter gets poured into a very well greased cake pan and the plums get placed, cut side down,right on top. A sprinkle of sugar to top it off is not a bad idea.

Into the oven it goes to turn to cake!

Pulled from the oven looking so nice. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before taking it out. Hot cake is hard to handle!

And as soon as you get it out of the pan you can start eating.

Enjoy the last bits of summer. Share if you can!

-C

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Plum Cake

Makes a 12 inch cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking sods
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut oil (warmed so it's liquid)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 12-14 small plums (the plums I used where golf ball sized so you might need less for larger plums)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Start by slicing the plums in half and removing the pits. Set them aside. Hint. for slicing, the best way to do this is to run the knife along the pit all the way around the plum and then twist the plum in half. Pop the pit out with you finger or spoon.

In a large bowl, whisk together the salt baking soda and powder, and salt . In a smaller bowl mix together the coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet into the dry and add in half the milk, mix together, then the rest of the milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix until all incorporated and smooth.

Pour batter into a well greased 12 inch round cake pan.  (If you don't have that a 9x9 square pan will work) Smooth out the top then grab your sliced plums and stick them, cut side down, on top. Give each plum a little push into the batter so it half submerged. Sprinkle the top with white sugar and pop into the oven

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a fork or toothpick stuck int he middle comes out clean.

Remove and let cool completely in cake pan, it's easier to remove the cake when it is not hot.
And once it's cool, remove cake gently and ta-da. Cake time

Rhubarb Poppyseed Cake

First rhubarb of the season!!! The patch in my backyard is large and wild and I am about to be swimming in humongo pink stalks of the stuff within the week. There will be rhubarb in everything.

Last year we ended up eating so much rhubarb. I didn't really have much of a game plan for it, I just ended up sticking it in everything and for the most part, it worked out great. Cakes, pies, salads, and soups. Rhubarb can find a place in anything. But for the first rhubarb of the season, I wanted to make something that was all about the rhubarb without too many other flavors to contend with.  And I wanted to make something pretty. Rhubarb cake with poppyseeds Sweet and tangy with a little earthiness, great texture, and color. A spring celebration cake if you will and made me very happy.

The mr and my sister were very much pleased with how this cake came out. (It was gone pretty much gone the next day) A cake win for sure and a good start to rhubarb in everything season.

The stuff. Rhubarb and poppyseeds. for all the flavor. Then you need flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, oil (I used coconut but I think any oil would be fine) soy milk, vanilla and a little apple cider vinegar.

Once you get the oven going, chop 2-3 stalks of rhubarb into small pieces about 1/4 inch thick until you have 1 1/2 cups. Take another stalk and cut lengthwise into thin strips for the top of the cake.

In a small bowl mix the oil, sugar, and vanilla together. Add the vinegar to the soy milk.

Whisk together all the dry, add in the poppyseeds then mix in the chopped up rhubarb to coat each piece.

The wet mixture goes into the dry along with the soy milk. Everything mixed until just combined.

Dump the mixture into a well greased pan, level off and sprinkle the top with poppyseeds . Take the thinly sliced rhubarb you reserves and lay on top any way that looks nice to you, giving in a little press into the batter so it stays put.

Now into the hot oven it goes.

And after a time in the oven you get yourself this gem of a cake.

Cooled a bit and ready for eating. A piece or two celebrate.

Rhubarb season has begun. Start it off right with cake!

-C

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Rhubarb Poppyseed Cake

Makes a 9x9 square cake

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
•  5 tablespoons poppyseeds
• 3-4 large stalks of rhubarb (1 1/2 cups chopped and a little extra for top)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup soy milk

Preheat oven to 350

Chop rhubarb into 1/4 inch chunks until you have 1 1/2 cups. Extra stalk and slice lengthwise into 4 thin strips and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons poppyseeds. In a smaller bowl mix together the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract until completely combined.  Add vinegar to soy milk. Toss the chopped rhubarb into the dry mixture and coat the rhubarb pieces. Dump the wet mixture into the dry and add in the milk. Stir together until just combined.

Dump batter into a well greased 9x9 baking pan and level off. Sprinkle the top with remaining 2 tablespoons poppyseeds then lay the thinly cut rhubarb on top anyway you think looks good to you.

Stick the cake into the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the cake tester(or fork) stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Remove, let cool, then eat at your own pace.