Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Summer into Fall



It's September.  We're past Labor Day.  Kids here have been back in school for three weeks already.  These should be signs that fall is pretty much here.  Except that, according to the thermometer, it's still summer.  *sigh*  The one thing I really miss about the northeast (where I grew up) is fall.  The crisp air in the mornings.  The apples.  The changing leaves on the trees.  Here, in September we're lucky if the temperature only makes it into the high 80s instead of the 90s.  Genuinely cool weather is at least another month away.  We had a little bit of slightly cooler weather last week, but that was courtesy of tropical storm Hermine, which brought plenty of other problems (like flooding and schools being closed for a day).  My dad is here to visit this week and he's sure to enjoy the weather since he likes it warm and it's about 20 degrees warmer here than in Pennsylvania.  Me, I'm wishing he could have found a way to bring the 50s and 60s with him. =)


This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe definitely makes me think of fall.  Sabrina of Superfluous picked the Cranberry Upside-Downer for us to make this week.  Unfortunately, it's a bit early for fresh cranberries for a lot of people, but from the comments on the P and Q, most were able to come up with good solutions for that.  In the book, Dorie gives a peach variation, and also suggests frozen cranberries.  I actually planned ahead for a change last winter, and stashed a whole bunch of cranberries in the freezer at the end of last year's season.  So I originally planned to just make the cranberry version.  Then I realized that I had a whole bunch of plums that needed to be used up.  Also, I wasn't that thrilled with their taste, but figured that cooking them (especially with the skins on) would remedy that.  So I decided to use both cranberries and plums for my cake.  I didn't add any nuts, since I knew that B&G wouldn't like them.  The other change that I made was to play around with the spices.  I kept the cinnamon, but reduced the amount to half a teaspoon.  For the other half teaspoon, I went with cardamom, since I really like it with plums.  


The verdict?  Well, my original thought was that with this much cake, I could always take some to the daycare.  Then I sampled a piece, and decided that I didn't want to share!  I haven't made an upside-down cake in a long time, and had forgotten just how tasty they can be.  I love the combination of fruit and moist cake.  And I was very happy with my choice of fruit.  The flavors of the plums and cranberries played well together, and I liked the contrasting textures of the two.  Adding a little homemade vanilla ice cream didn't hurt either.  Everyone else here liked the cake, too, although Brianna did say she liked the cake and fruit separately, but not together.  (So I did share a little.)

If you'd like to try this cake for yourself, head over to Sabrina's blog for the recipe.  To see what variations the other TWD bakers came up with, check out this week's Links.  And while you're at the Tuesdays with Dorie page, don't forget to check out the info for French Fridays with Dorie, the new group forming to bake through Dorie's new book!



18 comments:

  1. love that you used both cranberries and plums. Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, beautiful combo. It is great for breakfast, good way to serve fruit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. As I type this, it is 51º outside.

    The leaves are beginning to change and I'm so excited.

    When I lived in the south, that was the very thing I missed about the north.

    Lovely cake.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love that you mixed the fruit. It looks delicious and I would love to have a piece right this minute with my coffee. We loved this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Plums and cardamom - sounds like a great combination. I like the look of the mixed fruit too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the fruit combination you used - unique and pretty. Next time I will add cardamom too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love plums, what a good idea! I used cherries this time but Im thinking the fruit choices are endless! Your cake looks very good!

    ReplyDelete
  8. A great combination and look how pretty the arrangement of fruit looks on top! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gorgeous! I'd love to try your version - it sounds incredible! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. the plums held up really well during baking they look great. I did a White Peach version.

    ReplyDelete
  11. yum, i think my mom would LOVE a plum version!! it looks beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Plum & cardamom goes great together. Love how colorful yours is!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is so beautiful!)

    I wish I could have some of your warm weather. Summer skipped us this year, going from spring to fall in about two weeks. Very sad.

    But your plum upside downer would cheer me right up, particularly with your tweaks to the spices (love cardamom!)

    ReplyDelete
  14. peaches and cranberries. Looks scrumptious. And it is beautifully designed.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is the first one I've seen with plums. Sounds and looks fantastic with the cranberries. Had to laugh when you decided not to share. That happens to me too.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ciao Di ! I love your cake and I too was happy (!!) not too share it ! Love

    ReplyDelete
  17. Plum and cardamom is one of my favourite flavour combinations! In fact, I made a plum cardamom cake the other day, but may make a third upside-down cake now, thanks to you! This looks fantastic.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. "The one thing I really miss about the northeast (where I grew up) is fall. The crisp air in the mornings. The apples. The changing leaves on the trees."

    THIS!!! Oh, I am so with you. I am dying for a New England fall, and I don't want to wait until December for it! I made the cranberry version of this, and the fall flavor there was amazing. I love your plum variation!! So glad it was a hit. I didn't want to share mine either. :-)

    ReplyDelete