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Narsai David Recipe: Upside-Down Cake That's Easy To Make

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - This upside-down cake is my favorite cake recipe. It comes out different every time depending on what fruit is in season, and it's so simple.

Use any kind of fruit. In late summer and fall, peaches, large pluots, nectarines, apples and pears are all starting to come in. When you finally turn the cake upside down, the syrup you create in the pan flows down over the cake with the fruit right on top. That takes care of the topping, the dressing, the frosting.

KCBS Food and Wine Editor Narsai David:

Upside-down Cake
2 tbsp butter*
1/3 cup water
½ - ¾ cup brown sugar, to taste
4 egg whites
½ cup sugar
3-4 medium peaches, large pluots, nectarines, apples or pears
4 egg yolks*
Preheat oven to 350

Start by melting two tablespoons of butter, a one-third cup of water and one-half to three-quarters of a cup of brown sugar in a 10-inch frying pan. Set that aside to cool.

Meanwhile cut three or four pieces of fruit into eight vertical wedges that you'll lay down in the pan in a circle right in all that brown sugar.

Separately we're going to whip four egg whites with a half-cup of sugar until it's really, really firm and shiny. Add to that four egg yolks, a teaspoon of vanilla, a cup of cake flour and a teaspoon of baking powder. Fold that together, pour it over the fruit and straight into the oven.

It is so simple at 350 degrees.

* A non-fat version would eliminate the egg yolks and butter, and increase the egg whites to 6. Or just use one cup of non-fat egg substitute. The non-fat version is best served warm.

Narsai David is the KCBS Food and Wine Editor. He has been a successful restaurateur, chef, TV host, and columnist in the Bay Area spanning four decades. You can hear him Saturdays at 10:53am, 12:53pm and 4:53pm, and at 2:53am Sunday on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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