Ragazzi, Annalena is coming into the modern age more and more. ECCOLA as we say back home.
Now is this a first, or what? Annalena, actually the Guyman, figured out how to put a picture into these posts.
It is NOT easy. Oi. Deo grazia he is around.
Anyway, here's the story. You have seen many, perhaps too many, upside down cakes, on this blog. But this one was too, TOO good to not put up. It is, as the header says, a TOMATO upside down cake.
I can see the noses wrinkling, and I can see people saying "HUH?" And now I can hear the statements: "Ah. It's a SAVORY cake. Like a quiche."
Not so, carissimi. This is a sweet cake, with a fruit because tomatoes, botanically, are a fruit.
A little science here for those who will not be put off: most of what we eat and call vegetables, are fruits. If the seeds of the edible portion of the plant are completely enclosed, the plant is a fruit. So, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, squash, and so many other things we call vegetables, are fruits, botanically.
For tomatoes, there is much confusion, caused in large part by a Supreme Court decision. In Nix v Hedden, the Supreme Court declared a tomato a vegetable. It was a case involving tariffs, and rather than go into the details, let us just say that this is what the "law" is. The science is, to the contrary.
As a youngster, Annalena was taught that, if you put sugar on it (as many did and do, especially in the South), a tomato was a fruit. If you put salt on it, it was a vegetable.
Ultimately, who cares? Do we love it? Do we eat it? If it's a vegetable, or a fruit, it's in high season, use it.
So, to the cake. One of the cooks/chefs I most admire is Joanne Weir, who operates out of San Francisco. It was a sad day when NY TV stopped carrying her TV show. She is one of those chefs for whom I would love to cook, and this is her recipe, modified slightly by Annalena herself.
Chef Weir recently posted a list of her ten favorite tomato recipes, and indeed, this is appropriate give the time of year, and given how DAMN GOOD they are. Annalena looked at some of them and smiled. She looked at others and said "good idea," and moved on. Two caught her attention: a bacon lettuce and tomato salad, which will come, later, and this cake. A tomato cake. Hmmm.
At first, I thought of doing it with cherry tomatoes; however, the thought of slicing that many tomatoes open left Annalena thinking "not this time." Rather, she picked up some beefsteak tomatoes, in yellow and red. Heirlooms would be a waste here. You should not cook heirloom tomatoes, enjoy them as they are. And she made this cake. In fact, she made two of them and, as you will see, it is a beautiful cake. Make it.
It's sort of like a gingerbread with tomatoes, and what's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing.
Okay, let's start by prepping the tomatoes. You need two beefsteak tomatoes, about half a pound each. Try to get a yellow one and a red one. Make an "x" in the bottom end of each, and drop them in boiling water for thirty seconds. Pull them out, drop them in ice water and, when they're cool, you will find the skin pulls off so easily it's amazing. Then, slice them. You should be able to get six-seven slices from each tomato. Put them aside for now.
Meanwhile, melt half a stick of butter with a quarter cup of brown sugar in a small pan, and add a bit of fresh ginger to that. When the butter has melted, swirl everything around, and put it in a 9 inch baking pan. It will look like you have too much butter. You don't. Now, place the slices of tomato on the sugar, and overlap them. If you find that you are running out of tomatoes, use less of an overlap, and if you find that you have a little extra space, feel free to put in cherry tomatoes, halves or, as I did, basil leaves.
Put this aside while you prep the cake. Let's get the dry stuff together. You need 1.5 cups of flour, with 2 teaspoons of bakign powder. You also need ginger, cloves, cinnamon and mace (Now, aren't you glad you bought mace for the rose geranium pound cake?). You should vary the spices as you like. The standard ratio is ginger: cloves: cinnamon: mace of 4:2:1:1, with 4 being a teaspoon. If, howevery, you like cinnamon a lot and don't like ginger, play with this. Mix the spices with the flour and the baking powder, and add a pinch of salt. Put that aside.
Now, cream a stick of unsalted butter, with 3/4 cup of white sugar, and beat it REALLY well, to the point where it's almost white. Now, add 1/2 cup of molasses (it's a winter ingredient, but keep with me here). Add 2 egg yolks, one at a time. Have a half cup of milk ready and now start adding the flour mixture and the milk in alternative steps, until you use up each. (Many recipes say "ending with flour." I've never found it to matter). When it looks smooth and even, you're ready.
If you are sitting there thinking "this looks like gingerbread," you're right, it does.
Remember you had those two egg yolks? Well, I hope you didn't throw out the egg whites. You didn't right? GOOD. Now, whip them to stiff peaks, and fold them into the cake batter, and pour the whole thing over the tomatoes.
Put this into the oven and bake at 350 for at least 45 minutes. Your kitchen will send out very interesting and good aromas: tomatoes, basil if you used it, and the ginger spices.
When the cake has finished baking, give it a good half hour to sit. Then, run a knife around the edges, and turn it over. It will pop out with ease, and you will have a wonderful cake, looking like the one depicted in this blog.
I did not have the forethought, but I would have LOVED to have prepared basil ice cream to go with this cake. If you do think it out (now that you have a hint), do so. Some other ideas: Claudia Fleming in her wonderful book "The Last Course," has a recipe for a plum and tomato compote. Well, who's stopping you? Classic vanilla sounds good and , to be honest, what is more of a compliment to tomatoes than mozzarella. There are recipes out there for mozzarella ice cream. So, too, bacon ice cream. So play around, make some history, expand your dessert repertoire.
Ascolta, ragazzi, it is hard to think of getting tired of tomato salads, or soups, or sandwiches, but if you do, try a cake. I think you will be pleased, and you will certainly be the talk of your circle.
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