this season, you have no idea how many times i hovered around the apple aisles at my local supermarkets (whole foods included). although the displays were quite spectacular (who can resist an apple), none rocked my take. i was just about to follow a lead to hike thru an ancient hawaiian trail at higher elevation where claims of gleaming olive trees and apple trees are reported. glad i didn’t, instead i used apple (bananas) for ROSE’S heavenly CAKES: Apple Upside-Down Cake (page 37). this cake is to die for: apples or not, who can resist the synergy of caramel dripping over fruit over a melt in your mouth yellow cake? make it as soon as you can.
the results? the caramel picked the taste and the purplish/brown hue of bananas! then literally enjoying this cake under the stars, cake still warm under a cozy winter night.
i HIGHLY advise everyone to make the recipe as written, at least the first time around. no substitutions, no modifications. for two reasons: one, guaranteed great tasting results, and two, to know what Rose intended to share. for your second take, you can blame or praise no-one but yourself as my take on the Apple Upside-Down Cake went bananas, literally.
i used bananas of the variety ‘apple banana’ while still green and unripe, but i think ripe but firm bananas will work, too. frying plantains should also work, specially if you enjoy fried plantains… yummy! the idea is to choose a fruit that keeps its shape when baked and goes well with caramel and nuts.
besides going bananas, i followed the recipe as written. measuring butter temperature, macinating fruit, melting butter for caramel (love using my silicone brush to stir the pot), brushing the cake pan with the melted butter (with the same silicone brush), heating the caramel with a white silicone spatula (i detest over-browning the caramel, and you all should too!), coating the dry ingredients with the fats, adding the liquids, lining the caramel coated pan with the fruit, adding globs of batter on the pan, then using a small spatula to even out the batter.
