Recipe: Nectarine & Strawberry Upside Down Gingerbread

"This light, spicy gingerbread mix is lovely with the sweet summer fruits," says Mercy Fenton in her weekly column.

" Serve with extra fruit and mascarpone cream cheese or Greek yogurt and a drizzle of caramel or maple syrup."

The Base

Ingredients

3 or 4 firm nectarines

25gr soft light brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

Butter the sides of a 10 inch spring form tin, and then line the base with a

• disk of parchment paper.
• Cut the nectarines into wedges and toss in the sugar, cinnamon and black pepper.
• Arrange the nectarines around the base of the tin, using as much fruit as possible.
• Prepare the cake batter.

Ginger bread

Ingredients

115gr plain flour

1/2 tsp bread soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

30gr butter at room temperature

70gr Demarara sugar

32gr treacle

82gr golden syrup

75ml boiling water

30gr free-range egg

150gr strawberries

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Put the Demarara, treacle, golden syrup, butter and boiling water in a jug and stir to melt the butter and sugar, allowing it to cool a bit before adding the egg (as you don’t want to cook it).
• Sieve the remaining dry ingredients together into a medium sized bowl.
• Make a well in the centre of the bowl as you would for pancakes and pour on the liquid, whisking all the time, bringing in the dry ingredients slowly until you have a smooth, lump-free batter.
• Pour into the prepared tin over the nectarines and bake until golden and firm to the touch, about 25 to 35 minutes.
• Allow to cool fully, and then turn out onto a wire rack.
• Carefully remove the base and parchment paper to reveal the juicy fruit beneath.
• Serve with freshly sliced strawberries piled on top, and mascarpone cream cheese or Greek yogurt.