Upside-Down Berry Cornmeal Cake

Submitted by MA HIKER

"This sounds delicious! haven't made it yet, will after berry picking this summer! from BHG Aug 2007"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 2 cups berries (blueberries, raspberries and or or black raspberries)
• 1 1⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon basil, finely snipped
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 2⁄3 cup milk
• 1⁄3 cup canola oil

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease 8-inch round cake pan, line bottom with parchment paper, grease.
3. Arrange 1 1/2 cups berries in bottom of pan; set aside.
4. In bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, basil, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
5. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk and oil.
6. Add milk mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until combined; pour over berries. Spread evenly.
7. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until pick inserted near center comes out clean.
8. Cool cake in pan 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen sides. Invert. Remove parchment. Top with remaining berries and a sprig of basil and/or mint.

Reviews

[nanpie]

Such a fresh twist! SUPER recipe for fresh berries and basil. Easy, beautiful and tasty. Love the cornbread texture.

 

[livelovelearn]

So delish!! I added strawberries, too. Good for dessert or breakfast.

 

[MaryAnna1111]

AMAZING! I served it warm as a birthday cake and it was devoured. I wanted a healthy-ish cake that used up some of my cornmeal. This was great. Perfect directions, perfect measurements. I used brown sugar, and sprinkled an extra couple tbsps of it over the berries before pouring in the batter. I served it plain- it didn't need a thing with it! I used blackberries and raspberries, and I went ahead and spread them ALL on the bottom of the cake pan- I didn't think they would stick as a post-baking topping. Only word of warning is- don't put in birthday candles while the cake is still hot! They melted into it. :)

 

[Chef Edlear]

Wow, this one takes me back to Venice in the summer. An easy to make, not very sweet cake. The basil flavor is subtle, but key. I used fresh from my garden blackberries, blueberries and basil. I included some lemon zest in the topping. I let this sit on my counter for a couple of hours, just so that I could admire it! Daughter #2 said it tastes like a corn muffin with fruit. ( that's a thumbs up) Thanks for this one, nanpie!

 

[Podkayne]

I saw this recipe in BHG and was going to enter it, but MA HIKER beat me to the punch. The hearty texture of the cornmeal cake and the taste of basil were surprising and unusual, but quite good. As suggested in the original recipe, I drizzled the finished cake with a glaze of powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk, and that added a nice, zingy spark. (I lost the original recipe, and just made up the glaze, but forgot to write down what I did... sorry!) We're definitely going to make it again.