Washington Cherry Upside-Down Cake • Food for a Year: (2024)

Oh my. Cherry Upside-Down Cake. You really must taste it.

People often ask me – “why ‘Food for a Year’? Do you make meal plans? Do you show people how to store up enough food for a year?”…. I think this recipe a good way to answer that question. Our years are filled with traditions, seasons, celebrations, travel, schedules, work, monotony and once-in-a-lifetime moments. And this Cherry Upside-Down Cake blends several of these into one gorgeous, memorable dessert.

While on our recent stay in Washington State (Orcas Island to be exact), my friend, Angie, joined us for several days. It just so happened that her stay was during our shared birthday week — which can only mean one thing :: cake.

And since it’s summer in the PNW, what better way to celebrate than to make a cake that allows the sweetest dark Washington cherries to be the star of the show?! I could have easily made this cake with raspberries, or blueberries, or blackberries or even wild mountain berries b/c they were all available in bounty & tasted liked Willy Wonka waved his wand over them. Yes – the berries in Washington taste like candy, for real. Who knew?! Not his Okie that’s for sure.

Since I had 2 pairs of helping hands that had no job, I decided cherries were the way to go and got them bust about the task of halving and pitting 2 pounds of cherries. Can you believe they never complained?! And when they found out there was such a thing as a cherry pitter and we had one, they wanted to try it all over again. (Working hands are happy hands!)

This recipe is made super easy by using my 4-ingredient Quick (Homemade) Cake Mix. You can find out more about that recipe HERE::FFAY Homemade Cake Mix.

Start off by making a quick (notice a theme developing? Yes, this cake is quick, ha!) caramel in the bottom of a 2″ deep 10″ wide skillet. Quick caramel can be made by simply melting brown sugar and butter and stirring until a rolling boil is achieved.

And then place about 1 pound of pitted, halved cherries (cut side up – or down if you prefer) in a single layer over the caramel. Butter the sides really good after the caramel has formed, so that after baking, the cake will release (fingers crossed – as if fingers crossed could actually help, sigh).

Mix together the cake mix ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder & kosher salt), whisking to combine.

Add eggs, sour cream, water and melted butter.

And then stir until the batter is smooth (it will be thick).

Dollop the half of the batter over the cherries and spread.

Sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar over the top of the batter and then cover with the remaining batter.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until the center is set.

At this point – your really hoping it will come out of the pan in one piece. Otherwise, you’ll have to change the name of the dessert – from a cake to a crumble.

Thankfully, this upside-down cake released from the pan and indeed became an “upside-down” cake. Doesn’t it look gorgeous?

Sweet warm cherries bursting with juice, buttery caramel topping oozing into the cake – and the cake! Warm, moist and not too sweet, allowing the caramel and cherries to bring the biggest flavor impact. I need another slice, topped with a little scoop of Tillamook Dark Cherry Ice cream. Happy Birthday indeed.

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