You'll flip over upside-down cakes

Some cakes are so fancy, they are intimidating.

French gateaux and Viennese tortes. The kind of things you see on “The Great British Bake Off.” Those cakes on the internet that you believed in your heart were a tennis ball or a rack of ribs or a sleeping dog.

Those take skill and practice — and for those hyperrealistic cakes, a crazy amount of artistic talent. They can be a little scary to even consider.

But sometimes you don’t want fancy. Sometimes you just want good. You want a cake that tastes delicious, maybe something at home with a good scoop of ice cream. You want something to bring to the Fourth of July picnic. You want something that will impress the neighbors.

Welcome to upside-down cake season.

It’s no coincidence that we have also just entered farmers market season. The two are best friends. One of the best ways to use up the abundance of fresh fruit over the summer is in a delicious — and easy — upside-down cake.

These are cakes that are less recipe than they are kindergarten math problems. Sugar plus butter plus fruit plus cake batter. Bake it, invert it, serve to oohs and ahs — and then eat it before the pan gets cleaned out by hungry fans.

The one everyone knows is the pineapple version dotted with maraschino cherries, and it’s a classic for a reason. Canned pineapple and jarred cherries make it a year-round favorite.

But the same formula can bring you lemon cakelets crowned with blueberries or raspberries. A strawberry shortcake upside-down cake can be assembled in a bundt pan by covering jewel-like halved berries with a banana cake batter.

And if you can’t get the pineapple out of your mind, how about fresh pineapple and chunks of mango covering coconut cake — or is the cake covering the fruit?

Don’t stop with the suggestions we baked up. Dark cherries and chocolate cake. Tart cherries and vanilla. Peaches and sour cream cake. Sliced bananas and peanut butter cake. Let your imagination run wild. The combinations are endless.

These are cakes that can be made with cake mix or with that scratch-made batter Grandma would bust out for the family reunion. Whatever your skill level, an upside-down cake is the perfect blend of cozy and impressive. And the flavor is something to flip over.

Lemon blueberry cakelets

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 pint fresh (or frozen) blueberries

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (or zest of two lemons)

1 cup butter, softened

3 eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 12 jumbo muffin cups or 6 large ramekins, divide melted butter and brown sugar. Top with an even distribution of blueberries. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, lemon extract, softened butter and cream thoroughly. Add eggs, whisking to combine. In another bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, combine yogurt and lemon juice. Add the dry ingredients and yogurt mixture to the sugar and egg mixture, alternating until well combined.

Divide batter evenly over blueberries in cups or ramekins. If using ramekins, place on a cookie sheet. Bake about 20 minutes or until batter is cooked through when tested with a knife or toothpick. Remove and allow to set for five minutes.

Loosen edges lightly with a knife. Place a cookie sheet over the muffin pan tightly and invert. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing pan. If using ramekins, invert individually using small plates.

Variation: Try swapping blueberries for raspberries and brown sugar for white sugar. The white sugar lets the brighter color of the raspberries stand out more.

Strawberry banana upside-down shortcake

1 pint strawberries, halved

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large bananas, mashed

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a bundt pan. Combine melted butter and brown sugar and spread in bottom of pan. Arrange berries over sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, combine bananas, eggs, sugar, sour cream and oil. In a separate bowl, mix flour with salt and baking powder. Add to banana mixture, gently stirring to combine. Spread over berries in pan.

Bake about 45 minutes, or until batter is cooked through when tested with a knife or toothpick. Cool for 10-15 minutes. Gently loosen cake from pan with a knife. Cover with a plate firmly and invert. Cool another 10 minutes or so before removing pan.

Tropical upside-down cake

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks

2 cups fresh mango chunks

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 sticks softened butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup coconut cream

1/2 cup pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9” by 13” pan, mix melted butter and sugar, spreading evenly. Arrange pineapple and mango. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and eggs, creaming thoroughly. In another bowl, mix dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine coconut cream and pineapple. Add dry ingredients and coconut-pineapple mixture to butter and sugar mixture alternately until combined. Dollop over fruit in cake pan, then spread gently to avoid disturbing any pattern created. Bake 30 minutes or until batter is cooked through when tested.

Cool 10 minutes. Loosen edges of cake gently with a knife. Place a cookie sheet or cutting board over cake firmly and invert. Allow to cool another 10 minutes before removing pan.