Upside down cake is the best because you can pretend it is slightly nutritious because it has fruit. Hooray!

Well, and it's incredibly delicious. Today I made a cherry upside down cake, but you can use this recipe to make all sorts of fruity upside down cakes. This was inspired by a recipe my friend George posted on facebook - she's the queen of delicious baked goods. :D

Step 1: Ingredients:

for cake:

2 cups sugar
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft
1 1/4 cups milk (warm it up a teeny bit for best results)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs

for cherry topping:

fresh cherries, pitted and cut in half
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar

I'm using a super easy and tasty yellow cake recipe from King Arthur Flour for the base. I've had success with this one before, so I figured, why not? :D

You can make one large sheet cake or two round cakes with the ingredients above. I'm using nine inch pans.

Also, we'll be baking these cakes at 350 F, so preheat appropriately.

Step 2: Pit and Slice the Cherries (or Other Fruit!)

You'll want to prep your fruit first since the cake batter comes together really quick. :D

If you're using cherries, just pit them and cut them in half. For harder fruits like apples or pears, slice them into thin slices.

P.S. This is my first time ever using a cherry pitter. THEY ARE SO FUN. I'm using a Progressive International one you can get here.

Step 3: Butter Your Pans and Make the Topping

Butter the sides and bottom of your pans. Take the four tablespoons of butter and brown sugar and heat them up in the microwave until melted. Whisk them together to get rid of any brown sugar lumps. Once it's nice and creamy, pour it into your cake pans and spread it around.

Place your fruit cut side down into the mixture.

Set your pans aside when done - we'll make the cake batter now. :D

Step 4: Combine the Dry Ingredients With the Butter

Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix it together with a fork so everything mingles nicely.

Add in the softened 3/4 cup butter and mix together with a hand mixer until it looks like breadcrumbs. You want all the butter pieces to be fairly small. :)

Step 5: Add the Milk and Vanilla

Combine the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup and then pour into the mix you just made.

Mix this together until there are no dry regions left in the bowl. You might need to scrap down the sides and bottom of the bowl if you hand mixer skills are not in the expert level like mine. ;)

Step 6: Add the Eggs One at a Time

Add a egg then mix. Keep this up until they're all done. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl if you see any bits of yolk floating around.

At this point you should have a really smooth but slightly thick batter.

Step 7: Pour the Batter Into the Pans

Try to make it as even as possible. :D

Pour it gently and use a spatula to smooth it out so you don't disrupt the fruit.

Step 8: Baking!

You'll be baking at 350 F. Times will vary depending on the cake pan you're using:

8 or 9 inch round cake pans: 25-30 minutes
a 9x13 sheet cake pan: 40-45 minutes

This cake won't brown too much - that's fine! You'll definitely want to stick a toothpick or paring knife in there instead of basing the doneness on the color of the cake.

Step 9: Cool and Then Invert!

For best results, don't go flipping the cake over right away. (also, think of your hands! Will you need them for things later?) You need to give it a little time to cool down. It's best to cool it until the pan isn't hot to the touch anymore. I like to cool the pans on racks so it speeds it up a little.

The cakes should pop right out if you've buttered enough. Sometimes a bit of the fruit topping will stick to the pan, but that's okay. Just pull it off and put it back on the cake. It's rustic! Ain't nobody gonna judge you as long as the cake is free. :D

If you're feeling fancy, a bit of powdered sugar on top is really nice.