What To Keep In Mind When Making An Upside Down Cake With Frozen Fruit

Whether you're tossing figs with bay leaf-infused caramel or roasting sliced bananas over a sour cream cake batter, there's no question that upside down cake is a sure way to elevate an end-of-summer dessert. But fresh fruit isn't always in season, and, at times, opting for frozen fruit can make for a more dependable purchase. But it's crucial to keep a few things in mind when applying frozen fruit to an upside down cake. For one, don't defrost the fruit before baking. Frozen fruit takes relatively little time to thaw out and cook once it's sitting in a hot oven for 40 minutes. 

What's more, frozen morsels of fruit will be easier to work with as you arrange them in your pan. This approach works best with small pieces of fruit: think berries or finely chopped stone fruit. Avoid large chunks of frozen mango or whole frozen strawberries, which can cook unevenly and add disproportionate globs of moisture into your cake. And when picking out your fruit, steer clear of any fruits that have been frozen in syrup, juice, or sugar, which would compromise your recipe by adding unnecessary extra sweetness.

Try using frozen fruit in this summery, strawberry basil upside down cake, which normally calls for fresh strawberries. After spreading butter and sugar into the bottom of your greased pan, arrange frozen, chopped (not whole) strawberries onto the mixture. Then, add your batter and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Opt for a similar approach by using frozen pomegranate bits in an upside down pomegranate cake, which is spiced with ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg. 

Whether you're using frozen or fresh fruit, there's one fatal flaw to avoid when making an upside down cake: flipping it too soon after you've baked it. To avoid this, let your cake cool for at least 20 minutes before inverting it to reveal its jammy, jeweled exterior. Skipping this step could lead to a cake that rips apart as you flip it, or a slippery mess of hot fruit (in other words, a tragedy).