This is one of those recipes that feels like a common one and yet this is the first time I’ve ever made an upside cake. Traditionally, it’s made with pineapple rings, but I liked that this recipe used different fruits.

Starting off, I melted the butter and brown sugar together in the cast iron skillet, and I’ll be honest I let it cook a little too long. In fact, I probably should have started over but I didn’t… Once it cooled down, I arranged the pears in a sort of pinwheel and then sprinkled fresh blueberries and raspberries on top along with a handful of frozen cherries.

The cake batter itself comes together super easily, just your standard creaming of butter and sugar, a splash of vanilla, then the eggs. Dry ingredients go in gradually, with milk in between. The key here is not to overmix; it should be just combined so the cake stays tender. I spread it gently over the fruit and popped it in the oven.

I used a 10 inch skillet but I think next time I will use the 12 inch because the caramel mixture bubbled over onto the bottom of the oven (and later onto the bottom of the sheet pan I threw in there to avoid more mess in the oven). Despite the spillage, it baked nicely and was ready right around an hour later.

I could taste a little of the burned caramelization but everything else was really nice (hence the slightly lower rating on taste). I really liked the pears with this, though I really wanted to use peaches (but they’re not really in season yet). I will 100% try this again once we get into peach season but for a first attempt I would say it’s a win and it tasted really good with some vanilla ice cream.

Baking Ease	10
Time Spent	10
Taste	9
Visual	10

Recipe Used: David Lebovitz