Raspberries, Part 2

This summer is quickly turning into the summer of the Raspberry.  In an earlier post I had I written  about our neighbors Raspberry patch and how they had given me free access to the raspberries.  So far this summer I would say that I had picked somewhere between 8-10 quarts of raspberries and have been eating raspberries on just about everything.  I had already made Raspberry jam, so I was looking around to find other things I could do with raspberries.

Every year I make a drink called Glug with grain alcohol and spices, so I thought I would try replacing the spices with Raspberries and make a Raspberry cordial of sorts.  I started that process by soaking 1 quart of raspberries in a 750 ml bottle of 190 proof everclear.  After that mixture soaked for 2 weeks I strained the liquid and berries through cheese cloth and squeezed out as much juice as I could get.  I added to that mixture 1125ml of distilled water, 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg.  Brought the whole mixture to a boil removed from the stove and lit it on fire.  After the cordial chilled for a while I had a few nips and it was quite tasty. My wife has been buying the San Pelagrino lemon sodas so I mixed the raspberry cordial with some lemon soda and floated half a shot of aged rum on top.  It made a delicious and refreshing cocktail and my neighbors loved it.

After all that I still had Raspberries left over and needed to use them for something so I thought I would create a dessert.  I have been reading Martin Picard's new book, Sugar Shack, which is 380 pages of maple syrup.  It is everything you would ever need to know about maple syrup and how to use it.  So inspired by that I decided to come up with a Raspberry Maple upside down cake.

My Cake turned out pretty good, the edges were the best part as they were all gooey with raspberry and maple flavor.  The only down fall was that the center of the cake was a little dry and did not get as much gooeyness as the rest of the cake did.  It couldn't have been to bad though, because the whole thing was devoured in one sitting.  Since I made this cake there are more raspberries to be picked and I have been informed that my daughter would like raspberry ice cream, so I know what I will be doing on my day off.

Raspberry Maple Upside Down Cake

• 11 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 quart fresh picked raspberries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

1.  stir together 3 tablespoons of the butter, the maple syrup and the brown sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for another 2 minutes; remove from heat and set aside. When mixture has cooled pour the raspberries in a buttered cake pan and pour the syrup mixture over the berries.

2. in a mixer beat together the rest of the butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and eggs, one egg at a time, beating until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture a little at a time, alternating with milk; do not over mix. Carefully spread batter over raspberries. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan, about 45 to 50 minutes.

4. Carefully invert cake onto a cake plate or serving platter.