08 October 2013

Raspberry Upside Down Cakes



A work morning tea to say goodbye to a team member was  a good excuse to give my Kitchen Aid baby a work out & to make these tempting little treats.  Do you remember upside down cakes?  I have memories of Mum’s pineapple upside down cake, moist & syrupy & to top it all off a maraschino cherry inside each pineapple ring.  We were ever so sophisticated back in the 70s!!This is a bit of a more modern take & uses my favourite berry; the raspberry.  And being individual little delights the perfect treat for a morning tea.

Well not quite perfect, my cake baking skills still need a little work.  I think I added a few too many raspberries & a tad too much batter to each cake so they didn’t quite look exaclty like the cakes in the picture.  However, they tasted great & the whole lot did get scoffed at a work morning tea so I take that as testament that were in fact pretty good.


As was this delectable pineapple uspide down cake with a creme anglaise that Carmella over at Easy Food Hacks whipped up for us the other week to finish of a delicous Malaysian feast.  If you want to know how to make this one you can check it out here.

Raspberry Upside Down Cakes, from Donna Hay’s Off the Shelf

Ingredients

250g / 8oz butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup spelt flour, sifted
1 cup plain flour, sifted
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
300g / 10oz raspberries, fresh or frozen


Directions

For the cakes make a batch of Donna’s simple vanilla cake. Pre heat your oven to 160C / 325F.

Place the butter & sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer & beat until pale & airy.  Add the vanilla extract & eggs & beat again for a few more minutes.  Sift together the flours & the baking powder & gently fold it in to the batter.

Too much raspberry!

Grease some muffin tins & divide the raspberries among the bases*.  Spoon over the batter & place in the oven for 20 minutes or until puffed & golden.  Cool the cakes in the tins for 5 minutes & then gently & carefully invert them on to a wire cooling wrack. Dust with a little icing sugar & serve.

*If using frozen raspberries, thaw them & place them in a sieve to get rid of excess juice to avoid a somewhat soggy cake.  And add just a little, not even a whole teaspoon to the bottom of the tins.


These little cakes are quite the tasty treat.  The raspberries the perfect foil for the sweet & light vanilla sponge.  I think a few blueberries would make for a lovely variation as would the old classic, pineapple, maraschino cherry optional!


This is my contribution to this week’s I Heart Cooking Clubs where we are concocting a little magic with whatever we have in the pantry (& OK the freezer too for the raspberries).  For more pantry magic head over here.


This is also my entry for this month's Sweet NZ being hosted by Lucy over at Lucy Eats.



If you like this you might like this Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream
Three years ago Lovely Lasagne

Enjoy!

37 comments:

  1. I'm not surprised these little cakes were devoured, Mairi! They are so tempting and I do love anything raspberry. My mom made lots of pineapple upside down cakes in the 70s, too! As we're moving into fall/winter here, I'm thinking cranberries may work well.

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    1. Thanks Hannah, yes raspberries are a favourite of mine. I reckon cranberries would work a treat, a little tartness the perfect foil for the cake :)

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  2. Looks like a dollop of cream or mascarpone on the side wouldn't go amiss there either. I love raspberries and sponge (think I'll pass on the maraschino cherries!).

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    1. That or even some clotted cream! And agree with you on the maraschino cherries!!

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  3. They look really yummy, and the colour is fantastic! Great entry for Sweet NZ :-)

    Ciao
    Alessandra

    PS
    are you keen to host Sweet NZ in November? Your last hosting was November 2011, it would make exactly 2 years :-)

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    1. Hi Alessandra, thanks :) And yes sure I can host November...I cannot believe it has been 2 years!!

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    2. I know, when I looked I couldn't believe it either!!

      I'll notify Lucy and put your name down on the SNZ page.

      XX
      A.

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  4. These looks yummy! And I think strawberries would be great too, as raspberries are rather expensive over here. And I do miss the pineapple upside down too, been ages since I last saw or ate any!

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    1. Thanks Joyce :) Strawberries yes they'd be wonderful too. I am just seeing the first ones of the season now.

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  5. The cakes look delicious, and personally, I don't think there's such a thing as too many raspberries....

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    1. Thanks Zosia, you may well be right about the raspberries!

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  6. I wish I lived near you - the aroma of these babies baking must have been amazing!

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    1. Thanks Tina....not much beats the aroma of fresh baking wafting through the house :)

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  7. What lovely little cakes! I am a fan of the soft juicy cake ... and I agree that some whipped cream would be just the topper!

    PS My mom puts marachinos in the pineapple rings on the upside down cake too - it's required!

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    1. Thanks Susan, yes I agree the maraschinos are obligatory for pineapple upside down cake :)

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  8. I love little individual cakes like these!

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    1. Thanks Pam, something terribly cute about little individual cakes :)

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  9. Raspberries are my favourite berry too, Mairi, and just think that it won't be long now before we're eating fresh ones :-)

    Gorgeous little cakes, and I can easily imagine woofing down a few of these - it would definitely be "hold me back" at the morning tea table!

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    1. Hi Sue, can't wait to get some fresh raspberries :) See you for dinner on Wednesday xx

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  10. This looks delicious. I love Donna Hay recipes and you did it justice.

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    1. Thanks Chaya, they weren't quite picture perfect but they did taste good!

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  11. These are so cute. Very clever to use muffin tins for individual servings...plus they bake so much faster than a whole cake. (Can you tell I'm not a fan of baking?!)

    Had to laugh b/c I very well remember the 1970s pineapple upside down cake!

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    1. Thanks Michelle, yes baking not my strong suit either but always happy for a little experimentation!

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  12. Raspberries are my very favorite fruit so I wanna say there is no such thing as too much raspberry! I bet these were scrumptious!! Great choice.

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    1. Thanks Kim...maybe just a little too much for the little cakes but still delicious!

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  13. Oh, these little raspberry cakes look sinfully wonderful...I don't think there is a possibility of ever having too many raspberries in a cake, do you? So pretty, too. I would need to make these when I was sure others were around to help me eat them or one could turn into two or maybe three.

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    1. Thanks Kayte, yes I tend to only bake when it is for a crowd otherwise I'd be eating way too many cakes!

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  14. I like your little cakes. Donna's goodies are always a treat.

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    1. Thanks :) Donna is always very good at little treats :)

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  15. Mairi, these are such perfectly beautiful little cakes and I love raspberry desserts so they are right up my alley. I would love one (or six!) with a cup of tea. ;-)

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    1. Thanks Deb! One is never quite enough is it? That's why I try & always bake for a crowd :)

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  16. They look delectable. Unfortunately we do not get Raspberries here but will try them with strawberries.

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    1. Thanks Sunita, I used frozen raspberries & I reckon they would work with any kind of berries :)

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  17. Oooh that looks absolutely delicious! I like how you made them into little single sized servings too :)

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    1. Thanks Lucy, something about individual that is just so cute!

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  18. Replies
    1. Thanks Mireille, I love spelt flour! Use it whenever I can :)

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