As I may have mentioned in the past, I have a checklist of must-cook/must-bake recipes. It’s a long list, and it gets longer with time, as I discover more recipes. Admittedly, I have a long way to go before I complete the list. As my list gets longer, I also realize that I don’t have the luxury of time, and I still feel a bit intimidated about some dishes. Take the case of kare-kare and paella.
But thank goodness for holidays and long weekends. So on National Heroes Day, aside from reflecting on the courage of brave and honorable Filipinos, I took the time to make a dish I have been wanting to do myself — an upside-down Cake.
Truth be told, it was not really part of the plan during this long break, but I was looking at Martha Stewart’s official site the past few days and encountered her recipe for upside down cake. Of course, I incorporated my own modifications.
On her TV show, Martha featured the pineapple-mango upside-down cake. For this recipe, she used fresh pineapple rings. And in the middle of those rings, she put mango, carefully placed in the space using a normal cookie cutter. It was a good idea.
Of course, coming from the Philippines — the land of mangoes and papaya (isn’t that right, Lesley Leveriza?) — we know that we have the best mango in the world. So instead of doing a pineapple-mango upside-down cake, I did a Mango-Pineapple Upside-Down Cake — with emphasis on mango, of course! Here is a picture of the my own version of the cake. [Pardon my photography skills for this one. I am having my camera fixed. So for now, I am using my phone camera]
For the cake, I give my full approval to the Martha Stewart cake recipe. I will not have it any other way. Just visit her official site (marthastewart.com), and search for the recipe there. I followed the cake recipe, and it came out just right — very moist, with the right amount of sweetness.
I did the modifications with the toppings. I wanted a more whimsical cake, and wanted a cake that I’d be able to serve kids one of these days. So instead of using pineapple rings and filling hole with mango, I used cookie cutters instead. I used the existing cookie cutters of different shapes in the house — the teddy bear, elephant, and star.
I spread them on the bottom of the cake pan, which, if you follow the Martha Stewart recipe, should already have the brown sugar and butter spread (this caramelizes beautifully once you start baking). Notice that there will be spaces in between shapes. This is where you put the crushed pineapple.
For me, it was a perfect ending to dinner tonight. I look forward to making it again. Perhaps, I would also use kiwi fruits later on to have more color. I believe the cake would also taste very good with some chocolate chips on the cake itself. My objective later on is for the cake to have more color so that all the shapes could be seen.
The prep only took me 30 minutes, and the baking took about an hour. The cake serves at least 8 people. And it’s great comfort food!
Thanks for the recipe, Martha! Hehehe 🙂
