Tart cherries and coconut sugar become caramelized gems over an almond-scented golden cake. This Cherry Upside Down Cake is a simple yet luxurious tribute to the bounty of fruit this season.
I recently foraged for cherries in a neighbor's tree. This opportunity is pure gold (and glossy red) to those of us living in the high desert!
Climbing the enormous tree, bits of blue sky peeked between bountiful leaves and clusters of cherries glowing in the sun. After sharing the haul and eating handfuls of cherries for days, I dreamed up the destiny of what remained.
I decided on an upside down cake. This rustic and gluten-free golden cake has decadent, vegan and refined-sugar free caramelized cherry crust and is best served slightly warm.
The cake is “upside down” by baking the caramelized cherry topping in the bottom of the cake pan. When it’s time to serve, turn the pan upside down to reveal the gooey cherry top crust and enjoy!
If you have an abundance of fresh cherries, you can also preserve them with this simple cherry jam recipe or dive into our cherry dessert collection for more ideas!
PrintCherry Upside Down Cake
This rustic and gluten-free golden cake has decadent, vegan and refined-sugar free caramelized cherry crust and is best served slightly warm.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 1 hr
- Yield: one 6" cake
- Category: Baked Cakes
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: dessert, vegan
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
1 tsp vegan butter, to grease the cake pan
Cherry Crust:
3 Tbsp vegan butter, melted
¼ cup coconut sugar
1 cup cherries, pitted and cut in half
⅛ tsp salt
Wet Cake:
10 Tbsp full-fat canned coconut milk
6 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
Dry Cake:
1 cup Pamela's Gluten-Free 1:1 All-Purpose Flour *
1 tsp baking powder (make sure the brand is gluten-free!)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Instructions
Begin with all items at room temperature. This will ensure proper blending of ingredients. If coconut milk is separated, it's okay to warm slightly to eliminate any lumps.
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Grease a 6 inch cake pan with 1 teaspoon vegan butter and line bottom of pan with parchment.
- Make Cherry Crust:
- Pour melted vegan butter over bottom of the pan. Sprinkle coconut sugar over the butter.
- Arrange the cherry halves, pitted sides facing up and rounded sides down toward butter/sugar layer.
- Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the cherries.
- Prep Cake Batter:
- In a large bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.
- Quickly whisk in dry ingredients until just combined.
- Immediately pour batter over cherries.
- Bake in 350° F oven for 25-30 minutes and check with toothpick. Once a toothpick can easily be inserted near the center and come out without crumbs, bake another 10 minutes. Your total bake time will be 35-40 minutes. The cake will look very golden.
- Remove cake from oven and allow to cool on baking rack for 20-30 minutes to set up.
- Turn the cake upside down onto a serving plate and feel free to serve warm or allow to keep cooling to room temperature first.
Best eaten on baking day, but can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days.
Notes
*This is the gluten-free flour blend that has tested most consistently for the recipe. Please keep this in mind if substituting with another brand of flour and let us know how it works out for you!
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