Upside Down, You're Turning Me

I'd chosen five or six dishes from The Passionate Palate to try, and then it was late Sunday afternoon. I was thinking about making the Vegetable Lasagna on page 43 and accompanying the dish with the Wild Woman Wilted Salad on page 146. Further inspection of the salad showed that it was just a gussied-up name for a spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. I also considered the Upside-Down Apple Gingerbread on page 186 - and you know what won?

The gingerbread, of course, because I only had two eggs in the house. I could have  made all three items, but it just seemed like too much work and I really didn't want to run to the grocery store. I'm not one to shirk cooking challenges often, but on this particular Sunday it was worth it. Besides, I had leftover Tamale Pie (which you'll learn about in a few days.) I really didn't need one more tomato-laden dish hanging around in my fridge to become green and moldy.

Also, this reminds me of the Pineapple Upside-Down cakes that were so popular in the 70's. This was much better and required no spiffy placement of pineapple rings or maraschino cherries.

I think this would be easily replicated without a recipe. If you've got a favorite gingerbread recipe, try to prepare it this way. The most important ingredient after the cake mixture is the apple filling. It requires enough thinly sliced apples to cover the bottom of a 9x9 well-buttered pan. I used two large Granny Smith's.

Thinly Sliced Granny Smith Apples

Sprinkle on a little over a half cup of mixed brown sugar and cinnamon...

and pour in your gingerbread recipe.

Mine went into the oven for 30 minutes. I used the toothpick trick and determined that more time was needed. So it went back into the oven for another 10 minutes. Then I let it cool while I cleaned up the kitchen and ate my dinner of Tamale Pie.

I spooned the Upside-Down Apple Gingerbread into the Fiestaware bowl and stopped. Something was missing. The recipe suggested a sprinkling of confectioner's sugar and a dollap of bourbon infused whipping cream; I had none of those in the house. I did, however, have just enough vanilla ice cream. Perfect!