Upside Down Coffee Cake

This Wine & Dine Wednesday is Mister Sive walking you through his crazy yummy coffee cake. Above is a blueberry version he made a few weeks ago. Below a cherry concoction he made the other evening, which we have been enjoying since. Morning, noon or night, this coffee cake is sure to please. Take it away TPS!

My mother encouraged us kids to cook from a very young age.  I remember the first “adult” dish I cooked was a paella, I think in 7th grade, and in high school I cooked one dinner a week. Like many households in the 70’s, The Joy of Cooking was a key reference, and inspired the following recipe. Ted and I have Mom’s old copy, with her notes on the sides of which of us five kids liked which dishes. I’m not sure, though, that Mom would approve of the importance of Breakfast Dessert in the Watson Sive Household… Maybe I’m old enough now to ask her on my next visit.

This coffee cake uses a pastry dough and has a marvelous caramelized top. I bake it in a 9” springform pan, which makes the flipping-over-after-baking-and-keeping-it-all-together a bit easier. 

Grease that pan with a good 2 tablespoons of butter, to be sure the cake slips out easily. Mix together ½ cup lightly chopped walnuts and ½ cup dark brown sugar and spread evenly in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

For the dough, stir with a fork: 2 ¼ cup flour, 1 cup of white sugar, 2 tablespoons of baking powder, a tiny pinch of salt, and ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg. Then, cut 1 stick (8 tablespoons) of cold butter into ¼ inch cubes, and cut into the flour mixture. Everyone has their own favorite method; mine is with a quick, light touch by fingers. As always with pastry dough, less is more.

Whisk together: 1 whole egg and 1 egg white, ¾ cup of whole milk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Pour this over the pastry mixture, and stir lightly, maybe ½ way to fully mixed. Then, add 2 cups of fruit in small bite sizes (perhaps whole blueberries, half cherries, or cubed peaches) and lightly fold, until just mixed.

Spoon the wet dough over the sugar and nuts, and spread evenly. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55 minutes, until it springs back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean.  

Transfer to a cooling rack, run a knife along the side, and immediately release the side of the springform pan. Let cool a few minutes, and then carefully flip the cake and peel off the bottom layer of the pan. 

Serve while warm and you’ll be someone’s favorite person for the day.