I am intrigued.  Do you usually do your upside-down cakes in a springform?  I learned how to do them in a cast-iron skillet—but upon reflection, I see where you might be able to pull it off in a springform.

Having said that, I think that this cake might be a little tricky to do this way, simply because the batter is so stiff that it takes a little work to push the batter to the edges of the cake pan.  I think that if you try to smooth it over the cherries and sugar, you’ll end up pulling everything off the bottom of the pan and embedding it in the crumb anyway.  Of course, you could probably get around that by adding some buttermilk (along with a little baking soda) to the batter to make it looser and more spreadable—but then, you’ll be adding liquid to a batter that will become even more liquid as the cherries bake and the juices are absorbed into the batter, so you would have to significantly increase the baking time.

Obviously I need to run some trials.  Good thing tomorrow is market day.

Alas, fresh French vanilla ice cream will have to wait until tomorrow, as it’s made from custard, and all custard-based ice creams benefit by resting for at least four hours in the fridge before churning.  I don’t know if I can wait until midnight to eat the cake.  :)

200 sentences!  Better keep an eye out for Agapalano in your dreams tonight!  You can’t miss him.  Should be the only character floating around in there wearing platform shoes.

I can’t tell if that afterglow is from the cherry cake or from the excitement of 200, but either way, it looks good on you.