All over the shop Cherry Polenta Upside Down Cake

I went to dinner last night at Phil's, heading out across town in my new wheels (Les; but he's another story). It was a great evening - his housemate was out so it was just Phil, Evan (Phil's boyfriend) and I. We drank plenty of wine, Phil made delicious flathead with watercress sauce, and we watched far more dodgy internet you-tube larks than is actually cool.

I was on dessert duty and I knew just the thing to take. I'd seen this cake on a food blog a few weeks ago and it looked delicious - cherry upside down cake. With polenta in the batter, and balsamic and brown sugar in the glaze. YUM! Cherries are not around this time of year (although, oddly, there were some this morning at the markets - labelled 'stolen cherries') so I went with frozen. The cake making was easy, and it smelled a treat. But as I was flipping it out of the pan onto a too-small plate, disaster struck! The cake went half on the plate, one third on my bench and the final third on the floor! Here is the sad sad looking specimen:



I confess there was nothing to do but try some of the bench cake...and oh heavens it was delicious! Way too good to abandon all together (although floor cake certainly ended up in the bin). So I plated it as palatably as possible, and even though it was a visual disaster I figure I've known Phil long enough not to worry too much about dessert presentation.



Stupid lop sided photo.

Anyway it went down a treat when hidden with nice cream! The polenta in the batter gives it a really interesting texture - we all thought we'd had something like it before but couldn't quite place what it was. Possibly the grainy-ness of almond meal, or Phil thought maybe a particular type of muffin. Either way, ugly but taste sensation!

I've had quite the cooking weekend; have a chocolate tart cooling on the bench for dinner tomorrow night (I am going to a colleague's house to practice for my interview on Tuesday) and planning on a salami and fennel Jamie Oliver rip off pasta for dinner. It's wet and miserable here today so cooking and eating is all I have been good for. That and reading trashy paperback murder mysteries that require no brain power. What a top Sunday.