Munthari Berry Upside Down Cake Recipe

Origin: Australia      Period: Traditional

It could be argued that it's been a long time coming, but Australia is finally falling in love with its native foodstuffs and this new-found interest is beginning to influence foodies world wide. One of the foods of note is the Australian 'munthari' Kunzea pomifera (also known as emu apples, native cranberries, muntaberry or monterry) which produce fruit about 1cm in diameter with a flavour something like a spicy cross between an apple and a gooseberry. At a pinch, I would suggest substituting small red gooseberries.

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
250g butter
250g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
600g self-raising flour
140g munthari berries (or red gooseberries)

For the Topping:
70g munthari berries
quandongs (about 6) [though not an exact equivalent substitute pear or quince]
bananas
6 tbsp maple syrup (about)
glacée orange
glacée cherries
2 tbsp lime juice
300ml whipping cream, whipped

Munthari Berry Upside Down Cake Preparation:

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well to combine thoroughly with the creamed sugar after each addition. Sift the flour into the bowl then add the salt and fold to combine. Mix in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, crush the munthari berries and fold into the cake batter. Turn into a lightly-greased round cake tin and transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until nicely browned and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly.

Meanwhile, chop the munthari berries, quandongs, glacée cherries and glacée'd orange for the topping and place in a pan. Add about 6 tbsp maple syrup and the lime juice. Warm the mixture through until just liquid then take off the heat.

Remove the cake from the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove from the tin. Slice the bananas and arrange on top of the cake then pour the fruit and syrup mixture over the top (note, exact quantities for the fruit topping have not been given, how much you need depends on the diameter of your cake). Allow to cool then slice and serve.

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