How We Eat - Berry Upside down Cake digital cropJulie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
June is the start of berry season across the country – the beginning of a summer-long parade of blueberries, strawberries, haskaps, raspberries and saskatoons … even cloudberries and sea buckthorn, if you’re lucky. Berries of all kinds are nutrient dense and can often be foraged, if you know where to look – I spend much of August in pursuit of blackberries on the west coast, my arms scratched in battle with the thick, thorny vines that reach out beyond the bushes to defend their fruit.
Whether you’ve picked them yourself or picked some up at a market stand, berries are fragile and tend to live in a precarious state; if one turns fuzzy, its blight spreads quickly to others around it. Moisture is one enemy – tucking a piece of paper towel in with them will help. If you find yourself with a surplus, or just want to prolong the season, berries freeze well – no preparation required, unless you want to trim the tops off strawberries. Just toss them into a zip-lock bag or other container and put them in the freezer, and use them frozen (don’t thaw them first – they will collapse, releasing their juices) in muffins, pies, pancakes and all the things you bake berries into.
The arrival of berries also inspires jam-making, but it need not be an hours-long affair involving jars and pots and tongs and packaged pectin. Berries contain varying levels of pectin (which along with sugar and acid helps fruit gel when it’s cooked) – cranberries, raspberries and blackberries are among the highest, and if you’re using strawberries, the unripe white parts of the berries is where the pectin is most concentrated, so don’t trim those bits out. Regardless of the amount of pectin your berries may or may not contain, you can make a simple soft jam or compote by cooking any quantity of berries (feel free to add rhubarb, cherries and other soft fruit – they all pair well) with about half as much sugar in a skillet until it breaks down and thickens, and your spoon leaves a trail along the bottom – it will look like jam, and thicken further as it cools. This is a great way to use berries that may be squishy or mealy; keep your jar in the fridge for about a month.
Fresh and frozen berries also make a fine upside-down cake; this recipe comes from Krause Berry Farms, the famed farm, bakery and estate winery that has been a Fraser Valley destination for 50 years. Their new cookbook was written by Sandee Krause, who co-owns and operates the farm with her husband, Alf. The cake in the photo was made with blueberries and haskaps, which are deep indigo, creating a wonderfully jammy, deep purple-blue top.
Berry Upside-Down Cake
“Upon graduating high school at 17, I received as a gift a large orange suitcase and left home to find my way in the world. Knowing how much I loved this cake, my mom gave me her recipe for it before I ventured off into the unknown. It was the first cake I made when I was on my own and I continue to make it today. It is like a best friend to me. One of the things I love most about it is that I can make it with berries and then move on to plums and peaches as they come into season. The fruit caramelizes on the bottom or top (depending on which way you want to look at it), making for a flavourful, soft, moist cake. It never fails to be enjoyed at family gatherings – including by Oliver, our grand-dog. This doubles as a coffee cake for breakfast if there’s any left!“ - Sandee Krause, excerpted from The Krause Berry Farms Cookbook
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup salted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1½ cups fresh berries or peeled and sliced soft fruit
2 cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp table salt
1 cup granulated sugar
3 medium eggs, at room temperature, well beaten
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup 2 per cent milk
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
In a 9-inch round pan, melt 1/3 cup of the butter in the oven, approximately 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter. Arrange the berries or fruit over the sugar mixture.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the sugar and the rest of the butter together. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing until creamed.
Add about half the flour mixture and mix to incorporate. Add about half the milk and mix to incorporate. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk. Pour the batter over the berries or fruit.
Bake until the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean, approximately 65 minutes. Immediately invert onto a serving plate by putting a serving plate upside down on top of the cake pan, carefully flipping both the pan and plate over, and then gently removing the cake pan.
This is best served immediately, but you can store it wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.