Monday, April 16, 2007

Maple Nut Upside-Down Cake

This past weekend I found myself with enough free time to get engrossed in baking. The house was quiet and clean - ideal for trying something new. I had already picked out what I was going to tackle - Maple Nut Upside-Down Cake.

After looking through my cupboard earlier, I found about five different types of nuts waiting to be used; macadamia, pine nuts, walnuts, pecans and almonds. A perfect combination for a mix. After reading the recipe, I saw that it was assembled just like any other upside-down cake; by creating a syrup, sprinkling with nuts and topping with cake batter. An interesting thing about the cake was that it used no butter or oil. I couldn't remember the last time I made a cake with no butter but I had a feeling it would be just fine.

Well, the cake didn't disappoint. It looked pretty impressive with the glazed nut top and it was easy to lift off the pan. The syrup soaked into the cake making it moist and sweet. I found that it tasted even better the second day after all the flavours had time to settle. You can use any mixture of unsalted nuts you like and if you top it off with some whipped cream, you'll have a fabulous dessert to share with friends.

Recipe: Maple Nut Upside-Down Cake

12 comments:

Patricia Scarpin said...

Jen, this cake is something I'd love to have now - the nuts gave a beautiful visual effect and I'm sure it tasted delicious, too!

Anuhea said...

All those nuts make it just gorgeous!

Lis said...

The top (or bottom I guess?) looks like a cobblestone walkway kinda thingie! Gorgeous!! It's things like this that make me curse the day I was told I can't have nuts anymore. *sigh*

Just beautiful, Jen!

Brilynn said...

That looks pretty fantastic, and it's a great way to clear out the cupboard!

Cheryl said...

I was going to say the same thing about the cobblestone effect. This cake is really striking. I have never seen anything like it. Well done.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jen! Wow, what an impressive looking cake! I bet it's heavenly!

Claudia said...

That's an amazingly impressive cake - I'll bet it yummy too!

Peabody said...

That cake is stunning!

Canadian Baker said...

Thank you everyone for your nice comments especially that you thought it looked like cobblestones. This is a much nicer visual than what Mr. CB thought the cake looked like!

Glenna said...

beautiful! Such a great take on the upside down cake concept.

leslie @ definitely not martha said...

OMG....I really want maple and nuts right now. That looks incredible. YUUUUUMMMMM. Such great presentation.

And of course, I just read the post on lemon curd now, so I'm craving that too......

Anonymous said...

beautiful Well done....