Cherry Upside-Down Cake

We are past the days of cherry blossoms. The cherries are ripening on the trees. It’s time to start thinking about all the yummy things I want to make. Cherry-lime jam is at the top of the list. But this cherry upside-down cake is a close second. Except for that cherry dessert that I can never get enough of.

Jump to Recipe

Some people dream of sugar plums. I dream of tart cherries.

We had our fruit trees pruned over the winter. They are too big and old for a proper orchard trim, so we settled for having the dead branches and cross branches removed. I should’ve made them leave the wood behind for throwing on the grill this summer.

As it was, there were still enough sticks around and brittle branches on the trees to be able to use cherry and applewood for smoke on the pork shoulder I am making for dinner. It’s not going to be anywhere close to as good as the one my brother made two years ago, but long and slow on the charcoal with fruitwood smoke, as long as there is enough salt, it’ll be good.

Long, lazy summer days. The kind where the humidity is finally down and we can breathe outside again. The days where the sun finally shines after a week of rain. Mosquitoes are still sleeping. Weeds need to be pulled, there are a million and a half projects to do, but the patio furniture calls me to just sit for a little bit.

From my view on the side porch, I watch my daughter play with the neighbor’s dog. They are playing with the hose. Her giggles blend with his happy barks as they splash in the pool.

The hydrangeas are in full bloom. Huge snowball flowers break up the straight lines of my porch view. Spikes of hosta flowers and yellow lilies contrast with the blue/green of my patio furniture.

The furniture used to sit at my mom’s house. She gave it to us when we bought the house with the wrap around porch. We painted the wood over with dark azure outdoor paint and threw limey-green outdoor cushions on it. The old ceramic tiles of houses from Williamsburg, VA look better on a blue background than they ever did on brown.

This year, we didn’t get as many cherries. The weather was alternately too hot or too rainy. The trees were too tall. It’s always something. The fruit we could reach seemed to go from underripe to molding on the limb within hours. If anyone has great tips for picking cherries other than renting a cherry picker, I’d be glad to know them.

Apples and pears weigh down the canopy that I used to be able to walk under. My jam pots sit in the basement ready to be filled. My brain spins at the possibilities.

I walked under the apple trees today. My feet were bare. Hard green apples lay nearly hidden in the soft green grass. For a moment I was happy that the boys hadn’t yet mowed the yard. The knobby apples in the cool grass soothed my aching feet.

The soft wind blows the sound of a distant lawn mower to me. I know that I’m going to have to get up soon to do all the things that need doing. But while I decide if I’m going to make cherry upside-down cake for dessert, I’m just going to sit here and be perfectly content for just a minute longer.

The Recipe:

If you like this recipe, you may also like Cherry Cream Puffs, Cherry Meringue Pie, and Danish Pastry