Upside Down Cake

Two summers ago, Adrian and I were in New York visiting his friends. I have very mixed feeling about this world-famous city that I grew up getting to know through movies, news, magazines and papers. I'm not going to get much into that here. However I have to confess how disappointed I was by the quality of foods in New York. Despite the ingredients and freshness they promised, it felt like something was missing in the foods; they taste rather "mechanical".

Of the many meals we had in New York, one that we enjoyed the most was home-cook at Adrian's friend's in Manhattan. This friend of Adrian, Mark, is a self-taught cook with multi-talent: food stylist, private chef, food consultant. I felt so honored to be served by a professional cook at his own abode. Not only were we treated to delicious home-cook dinner but also intellectually stimulating conversation (his partner, Neil, is a Ph. D in Genetic Engineering). Their apartment, by the way, was the most "homely" place I've been in New York; a proper HOME.

So we were indulging in great foods and company. Just when I thought things can't get any better, Mark took out the dessert. A pan of cake. Allow me to rephrase it: cake in a cooking pan. Or shall I say skillet? That was my first gustatory experience with Peach Upside Down Cake. It totally blew my mind and I haven't stopped thinking about it since then.

One of the reasons the Peach Upside Down Cake took me by storm was the caramel - it's my personal reminisce of the Australian Sticky Date Pudding. Unlike Sticky Date Pudding, the tartness of the fruits in Mark's Peach Upside Down Cake was a heavenly contrast to the sinful melt-down of sugar and butter. You'd think it'd take me sooner than this to make the cake but it somehow took me more than 2 years to finally bake it. I have no excuses except to blame it on my just-over-1-year kitchen experience. Anyway I digress.

Pinwheel of mixed fruits.

I found the recipe by the famous American pastry chef - David Lebovitz. I literally used all the fruits that he suggested: apricot (frozen), plum, peach, dried cranberry (pre-soaked in hot water and drained), and pear. It was quite a "panful" of fruit pinwheel, in two layers. I ended up worrying about not having enough batter - it barely covered all the fruits. As I predicted, once baked some of the fruit wedges were popping out of the cake (the Down-side). I wanted to flip it over so desperately to see the bottom layer (the Upside).

The "Down-side"

It helped that we went out for a movie and it took my mind off the cake for a few hours. As soon as I got home, I flipped it. And Gosh! It's pretty!

The "Up-side"

The wedges are best served warm with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. The real secret is: a day-old wedge is even better than fresh.

Go here for the recipe.

Pomegranate Salad with Maple-Spiced Walnuts and Honey-Mint Lemon Dressing

I love a good fruit salad. It's the kind of dish that doesn't seem like much and requires some thought to make an impression . You know what I mean? Most fruit salads I have at restaurants are just mindless jumble of seasonal fruits. The more creative ones would add yogurt as topping. And that was my education of fruit salads through eating out.

I'm glad I'm a learner and I educate myself pretty well otherwise I may never discovered the beauty of a GOOD fruit salad. Especially the type that is filled with season's best, picked at their peak, and speaks FRESH in every bite. This fruit salad is a winner because it's tossed in a light sauce of fresh squeezed lemon juice, honey, fresh mint and a touch of cane sugar: just enough to bring out the natural sweetness in the fruits without overwhelming it while the fresh mint works as a refreshing compliment.

The key is to use fresh ripe fruit. Under ripe or overly ripe will kill it. And if you must, canned fruit such as mandarin orange wedges or even peaches can be used, but fresh is truly best. This is a very versatile recipe; you can use other fruits combination: blackberries, apples, pears, peach, etc.

This salad would be perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert or potluck. It will also serve as compliment to French toast, waffle, or pancakes.

Ingredients:
(makes 4 side servings)

• 1 banana, peeled and sliced
  
• 1 pomegranate, peeled and break seeds apart
• 1 C seedless grapes, halved

Honey-Mint Lemon Dressing

• 3 TB pure honey
• 3 TB fresh mint, chopped
• 3 TB fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 3 TB natural cane sugar

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to toss with fresh fruits.

Caramelized Walnuts (optional)

• 1/2 C walnuts
• 1/3 TB Maple syrup
• salt and pepper
  

Combine walnuts, maple syrup, pinch of salt and pepper in a medium bowl, tossing well to coat. Spread pecan mixture evenly onto a baking sheet coated with oil. Bake at 180° for 15 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes. Cool completely and break nuts into small pieces.

Mix cut, fresh fruits and Honey-Mint Lemon Dressing in a serving bowl. Toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with chopped caramelized walnuts. Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint.