Strawberry Upside-Down Cake with Cardamom

I have been obsessed with strawberries lately. You may have noticed this. So when this recipe popped up in my reader when Kirsten was sitting near me at work, I knew what to make for her super secret birthday dessert. I mean, she made me a super delicious dinner, so I had to kick out the baking jams to make sure my dinner also rocked. It's from Joy the Baker, one of my favorite food bloggers (again, you may have noticed this), so you know it's a winner. Make it now while strawberries are still lingering.

Strawberry Upside-Down Cake with Cardamom from Joy the Baker:

Makes one 9-inch cake

For the topping -

2 Tb. unsalted butter
¼ c. brown sugar
1 c. sliced strawberries (I love you Oregon strawberries)

For the cake -
½ c. unsalted butter, softened
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour (did I sub 1/3 c. whole wheat? You know it!)
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. nutmeg (just for kicks because the crushing the cardamom made me think of nutmeg)
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Use an 8-inch round with 3-inch tall sides. You can also use a 9-inch round with 2-inch sides (which I did!)

Place butter in the cake pan and place in the oven. When butter is melted, remove pan from the oven. Using two pot holders, tilt the pan around and around, coating the sides of the pan with butter. Once sides are coated, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Cream until slightly pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop mixer, scrape down the bowl with a spatula, and add egg and vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute.

Turn the mixer off, scrape the bowl, and add the dry ingredients. Beat on low speed while adding the sour cream. Beat until the batter just comes together. Batter will be pretty thick. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish incorporating ingredients with a spatula.

Sprinkle ¼ cup brown sugar into the melted butter in the cake pan. Sprinkle strawberry slices over the butter and sugar in a single layer. This is harder than it looks. Also, don’t eat all of the strawberries, which is hard, I know. Spoon batter over the strawberries and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cake rest for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the cake and inverting the cake onto a cake plate. Serve warm with sweetened sour or whipped cream. I did whipped cream. It was wonderful, especially after that pizza. It’s got a wonderful aroma and you will want to eat it every day for the next week if you can.