Blackberry Upside-Down Cake

Here is a delicious — and easy — cake using blackberries which grew in my backyard. Yes, I foraged for my own blackberries! In Louisiana, wild blackberry brambles grow like weeds in any unkept sunny location. Perhaps this doesn’t reflect well on my gardening skills. I do admit that I did not weed or tend to one of my flower beds last summer because of the heat. And, wasn’t I surprised this spring when it filled up with blackberry vines! I am having quite a harvest of large, luscious blackberries. I decided to make a “Blackberry Upside-Down Cake” with the berries. It is a “one bowl” cake recipe and is quite simple to mix up. When you flip the cake upside-down, the blackberries make a striking topping. Plus, I added a few extra berries for garnish. The cake includes buttermilk and I went all out by using cake flour; the resulting dessert is tender and tasty.

Going Blackberry Picking

One of my striking young childhood memories was going blackberry picking on Victor Glick’s farm. The farm was in the remote countryside of the Shenandoah Valley down a dirt road. There were lots of tall blackberry brambles and, with an afternoon of picking, we had quite a haul. However, the memorable part of the excursion came after the foraging was finished. The car got stuck in a ditch. Back in those days, there were no cell phones. We had no recourse but to wait by the side of the road — in the heat — until eventually a farmer came by. He attached the car to his tractor with a rope and somehow got our car back on the dirt road. Whew! We got home. However, it was a scary experience for a small child. I don’t remember much about the blackberries after that experience. But, I am sure that my mother made plenty of blackberry jam, blackberry ice cream and pies with the berries. She was a good cook! Years later, we took my mother — who had Alzheimer’s — for a drive down the country road where we went blackberry picking. She loved drives. But, sadly she didn’t remember the blackberry picking adventure.

Foraging for berries and other foods

Of course, when we were young, we went blackberry picking, not foraging. So, what is foraging? This term means to search, hunt, gather and collect foods out in the wild. It doesn’t refer to picking foods from a culivated garden or farm. Foraging refers to hunting for wild game, going fishing, gathering fruits, vegetables and nuts. Animals forage. Early man foraged for his food thousands of years ago. Eventually man learned about fire, domesticating livestock and farming. And, here we are today. I wonder if many folks even know what a food looks like when it is growing in a garden, farm or out in the wild? Unfortunately, we have become disconnected from our food sources.

Foraging for mushrooms, leafy green plants and other foods seems to be much the rage here in Louisiana. I see books written on the subject and have attended various lectures on searching for, identifiyng and collecting foods which are growing in nature. For example, I learned that there is an association of avid mushroom collectors here in the area.

However, other than being curious about the topic, I’ve not had much of an interesting in searhing for food ingredients in the wild. It seems like a time consumng process and, really, a labor of love. You have to know where to go and when during the year. Most importantly, you have to know what you are doing. Picking the wrong mushroom, for example, can result in a posion one. I will keep to picking the blackberries which accidentally grew in my own backyard.

Blackberry Picking Tips

Blackberries, however, are one of the few fruits which are easy to forage for. If you go blackberry picking, here are a few of my tips:

• Blackberries don’t ripen after they are picked. Pick only the ones which are completely dark purple. Don’t pick ones which are still red or burgandy.
• Blackberries ripe at different times. You may be able to return to the same location twice for another harvest.
• Blackerries are perishable — have a plan to use what you pick as they will spoil in just a few days.
• Blackberries grow on long, thorny “brambles” or vines. There are lots of stickers of the vines, so wear a long-sleeve shirt, if possible.
• Know where you are going. Blackberries grow in sunny locations — such as by the side of the road. However, respect other folk’s property. And, know if the area has been sprayed for pesticides.
• The anthocyanin components give the blackberries their red, purple and blue colors. However, these dyes will also stain your clothes and cutting boards. The pigment just doesn’t wash out.
• Watch where you step. Bees, wasps, ants, mosquitos, snakes and poison ivy may also be in the area.
• Apparently, blackberries ripen at different times around the country. In Louisiana, April is the time for ripe blackberries. In other parts of the country, blackberries ripen in late summer.

Nutritional Value of Blackberries

Like strawberries, blackberries are in the rose family. And, blackberries are loaded with nutritional value such as Vitamin C, E and K, minerals (calcium, manganese), insoluble fiber and antioxidants. Plus, blackberries are low in calories. Thus, blackberries provide alot of health benefits such as aiding in digestion and protecting from chronic diseases with their anti-inflammatory properities. We can add blackberries to our “superfood” list.

Making the “Blackberry Upside-Down Cake” recipe

I have made variations of an “upside-down” cake several times and have learned from my mistakes. To make an “upside down” cake, you have to be able to invert the cake pan and get the cake with the syrupy fruit topping out. I found that a springform pan which has removable sides works well. I traced and cut a piece of parchment paper which fit in the bottom of the springform pan. Then I oiled and lined bottom of the pan with the parchment paper. And, I oiled the parchment paper. After the cake baked, it was easy to invert the cake onto the cake plate, remove the sides and bottom of the pan and peel the parchment paper off the sticky blackberry and sugar topping. Success!

Here are the ingredients for my cake

I used Swans Down Cake flour in the recipe. (Yes, I keep a box of this cake flour in my extra freezer.) And the recipe includes oil rather than butter or margaine — another healthy benefit. Buttermilk — which is low in fat — gave a very moist texture and delicious flavor. The cake contains less sugar than other cake recipes — another plus!

To make the cake, sort the blackberries and reserve 1/2 cup for garnish. Place the remaining berries in a single layer in the cake pan. The berries should completely cover the bottom of the springform pan. Sprinkle on sugar. I needed 2-1/2 cups of berries to cover the bottom of the 9″ springform pan.

This is a “one-bowl” cake recipe. I mixed it up by hand rather than using an electric mixer. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a large bowl. Stir in sugar. Then stir in beaten eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Stir just until mixed. It will still be lumpy — that’s okay.

Carefully pour the batter over the blackberries and spread out — completely to the edges. Bake.

Let the pan cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Invert the cake onto a serving plate and remove the sides of the springform pan. Peel off the parchment paper. Add a few fresh berries for a garnish. No need to ice the cake. Just enjoy it!

It is a show-stopper cake. Delicious and quite healthy compared to other cakes. Plus, with the “one-bowl” recipe approach and hand-mixing, it is easy to whip up. Enjoy!

Reference:

https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-blackberries