Plum Upside Down Cake

Some months back, the Food Network did the Kid’s Baking Championship, which was adorable and hilarious. Watching ten year olds in long aprons whipping meringue and crème bruleeing is my idea of entertainment, and inspiration to get Conner in the kitchen sooner rather than later. I’d love a little pint sized sous chef. Adorable. Around Christmastime they did the Holiday Baking Championship, which was also fantastic, gingerbread and festive cookies galore. Then a few weeks ago, they launched the Spring Baking Championship. I’ve been watching regularly, even forgoing my religious Sunday night Bravo watch parties for it, which is a big deal.

One of these past weeks, there was an “upside down cake” challenge, where the eight or so competitors had to do their best spins on the fruit on the bottom classic. Before this episode, I had literally never even heard of anything other than a pineapple upside down cake. Black grandmas all over the country make it with canned pineapple and maraschino cherries, with a typically light and kind of spongy cake, with just the right amount of density to hold up to the fruit without becoming soggy. But on this episode, I witnessed not only the classic pineapple version, but also peach, blueberry, strawberry, and a whole variety of other upside down cakes. I was immediately inspired to make my own. I hit the supermarket in search of perfectly ripe peaches, but spotted plums instead. Boom.

Splendid Huevos Rancheros

I can admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of breakfast. I love eggs, I like bacon, but it’s just not the most rousing meal category in my opinion. But when I was in college, brunch started to become a “thing”. Traditional restaurants all over D.C began offering a trendy and unexpected twist, served from noon until three- a mix of breakfast and lunch in one specialized menu. Exciting! Brunch is perfect for kids who partied until three a.m., and couldn’t possibly make it to breakfast on time (me in college). Or the slow moving, late people, who plan to arrive someplace at three, and arrive casually around four (me pre-baby). It’s also perfect for somewhat authoritarian moms, with a kid who takes a mandated, no-excuses four-hour midday nap (me right now).

Besides timing, brunch is awesome because there’s so many options! Pancakes and french toast are cool, but sometimes you’d rather have something more savory. Or spicy. Or Mexican! That’s where these huevos rancheros come in. I ordered them once at a reputable restaurant, and hated them. This defied logic. I adore all Mexican food, I adore brunch, and I adore said restaurant. For these reasons, I decided that I must actually just hate huevos rancheros. Years passed before I considered them again.

Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls

In college, I worked retail for a few months at one of those stores that sold overpriced ripped jeans, tank tops, and hoodies, with murals of half naked hotties plastered on the walls, and an overpowering scent of Axe body spray-esque cologne in the air. And I hated it. I hated the aggressive techno music, I hated the rude customers, and I hated the smell of that cologne. The only good thing about the short-lived job was my almost daily meal of a big, warm, gooey Cinnabon. I was a woman obsessed. I’d leave classes early to make sure I got to the mall in time to have one before my shift, or rush over on my fifteen-minute break. The Cinnabon employees and I knew each other by name. Now that I think back on it, it’s kind of disgusting how many of those cinnamon buns I ate in that three-month period. Disgusting, but awesome. I absolutely love cinnamon buns!

Now that I’ve accurately given you a look into my cinnamon bun fueled sickness, you can understand why mastering this recipe was so important to me. I don’t frequent malls anymore- I’m more into home goods and specialty groceries at this point in my life. But even though I rarely pass a Cinnabon store and get enveloped in that heavenly smell of dough, cinnamon, and sugar, I still think I deserve (yes, deserve) to have cinnamon rolls.