Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Nectarine Upside-Down Chiffon Cake (TWD)


This week's Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia recipe was hosted by Marlise of The Double Trouble Kitchen and Susan of The Little French Bakery: Nectarine Upside-Down Chiffon Cake.  It's been a long, long, time since I've posted for this group - I'm sorry :( I have just been so busy, and on top of that I'm six months pregnant and turning on the oven when it is 100+ degrees outside just hasn't been very appealing.  The good news, however, is that my baby girl (who is not so much a baby anymore) just started school this week so that means this mama is going to have a lot more time to bake each week! So, you should start to see blog posts pick up a little more at least.

I didn't have a pan large enough for this cake, so I made one large nectarine and peach upside-down chiffon cake and one mini blueberry upside-down chiffon cake.  After reading some of the comments on the weekly P&Q, I decided to skip the streusel and made sure to bake my cake for a few extra minutes.  I really think the longer baking time has to do with whether or not the cake is baked on a jelly roll pan.  I did not bake mine on one and I think it only took an extra 3-5 minutes to bake.  I did, however, cover the bottom of my pans with foil to catch the butter drippings, which was good because there was quite a bit.
The blueberry cake was delicious.  The chiffon was light and airy, as it should be.  It's a nice contrast to the denser, more traditional pineapple upside down cake.  I'm not sure how the nectarine and peach cake turned out because that one will be going with my husband to work tomorrow, but I imagine it's just as good as the blueberry cake.
Thanks to Marlise and Susan for hosting; you can find the recipe on their blogs here and here.  Make sure you check here, too, to see what everyone else thought of this sweet, end of summer treat.

* Recipe notes:
- If you bake your cake on a jelly roll pan, be sure to add at least another 10 minutes of baking time to your cake.  Definitely don't forget to wrap the bottom of your pan in foil, or you'll end up with a big mess on the bottom of your oven.
- Frozen blueberries work great with this recipe.  Do not thaw before baking.
- For more recipe notes, check here.