Verbena Pastries: Blueberry-Ricotta Upside-Down Cake

This cake can be made with any type of berries that are in season. It's very light and fluffy because of the whey milk and the ricotta cheese added, or buttermilk can be used instead. The berries are put at the bottom of the cake pan and the batter is put on top, then baked, simple.

Grease a 9" springform pan, and put a parchment circle at the bottom of the pan, also greased, and sift a little bit of flour in to the cake pan, tap out the excess. Then lay a single layer of berries (2-3C) at the bottom of the pan. We used frozen wild blueberries, but anything can be used. Sprinkle 1/4C superfine sugar over your fruit layer, if the berries are more sour, add a little more sugar. Put aside.

In a mixing bowl put:
2C All purpose flour
1 1/2t baking powder
3/4t salt
1/2t baking soda
mix a little.

In a larger mixing bowl add:
1 stick soft unsalted butter
3/4C sugar
2t vanilla extract
zest of one orange. Cream together till the butter is a shade lighter.
Now mix in 3 eggs, 1 at a time,
add 1C whey milk (from the homemade ricotta cheese, previous blog post), or use buttermilk.
add the dry ingredients, mix on low until combined,
then fold in 1C fresh ricotta cheese until combined.
Put this on top of the berries in the cake pan. Smooth it out on top.

Bake at 350F starting at 45 minutes-1 hour. Test with a skewer, it should come out clean. Take the pan out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Put a large plate on top of the cake pan and flip the pan over so the plate is now on the bottom. The cake should come out very easily. Gently pull off the parchment to reveal the fruit on top.