Chocolate-cherry upside-down cake

8 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 pounds Black Cherries -- OR
2 cans (20 Oz) Black Cherries,
Pitted
9 tablespoons Butter
¾ cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg -- separated
2 1-Oz Unsweetened Chocolate
Squares -- melted *
1 cup Flour
1½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
¾ cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ pint Heavy Cream

Directions

* Melt chocolate in top of a souble boiler over simmering water.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Carefully pit the black cherries, leaving them as close to whole as possible. This is painstaking. In a saucepan put the uncooked cherries, add a few Tbs of water, and simmer for a few mins until the cherries are a little soft, but retain their shape.

Remove from heat. Place 6 Tbs of the butter in a heavy 9-inch skillet (preferbly of black iron), add ¼ cup of the brown sugar, and set on low heat until butter and brown sugar are melted. Blend and spread evenly over the skillet and remove from heat. Carefully place the pitted cherries (fresh or canned) close together in the butter-sugar, with the uncut side down, because that is the side that will show when the cake is served. Reserve the cherry juice. Cream together the remaining butter, remaining brown sugar, and the granulated sugar until very light. Add the egg yolk and melted chocolate, and mix thoroughly. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, and add to the butter-sugar mixture alternating with the milk. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly. Fold in stiffly beaten egg white. Carefully spoon the cake batter into the skillet so as not to disturb the cherries. Bake for 45 mins. When the cake is springy to the touch, remove it from the oven, loosen the sides from the edge of the skillet if necessary, and let the cake stand for 10 mins. Place the cake serving plate upside down over the skillet, hold the handle with one hand, the cake plate with the other, and flip the whole thing upside down. Leave the inverted skillet on the cake plate for 10 mins, then slowly lift it off. Let the cake cool. Whip the cream until thick, adding a tsp of reserved cherry juice every few seconds to give a rich flavor and a bright pink color. Spoon the whipped cream thickly around the edge of the top of the cake, leaving most of the cherries exposed. Cut with a sharp knife. Yield: 8 servings.

Recipe By : Spoonbread & Strawberry Wine - ISBN 0-385-47270-6 From: Dan Klepach Date: 05-18-95 (159) Fido: Cooking

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