Eat: Peach Upside Down Cake

This Peach Upside Down Cake is one of the two desserts I made for Father's Day. My family tends to prefer chocolate confections, so I really did not expect this to go over well. That's also why I made a second cake with a homemade chocolate sauce (stay tuned for that one!). Much to my pleasant surprise, everyone devoured this beautiful peach cake with barely a leftover piece to spare!

Obviously, this cake is gorgeous and presents wonderfully—that's actually what first motivated me to make it. What you can't appreciate unless you try it is the unique texture. When I poured the batter into the pan, it was almost completely full. Worried it would surely spill over while baking, I repeatedly checked the oven. Fortunately, these efforts weren't necessary as there was zero overflow. Instead, the batter is meant to rise only a little, making the cake quite dense and moist. Also, the cake itself is not particularly sweet since it's topped with (amply sweet!) carmelized sugar and peaches. All in all, a very unusual but fantastic dessert.

Peach Upside Down Cake
Serves 8-10

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter (divided)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2-3 large peaches, sliced (around 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, aluminum-free
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to  350°F.

In a small sauce pan, combine 3 tablespoons of the butter and all of the brown sugar. Heat on medium-high until the sugar is melted, stirring continually. When it starts to bubble, remove the pan from heat and pour the carmelized sugar into a greased 8" or 9" round baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the caramelize sugar around the pan (essentially lining the bottom of the pan with sugar).

Arrange the peach slices in the pan, creating a visually appealing pattern (remember this will be the top of the cake).

In a large bowl, Beat the remaining stick butter and sugar together until they are combined and smooth. Add the vanilla, then beat in one egg at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix together the the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the batter. Now add the milk, then the remainder of the dry ingredients. Don't overmix the batter. Pour the batter over the peaches in the pan, spreading it around to fill in the spaces between the fruit.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until the edges of the cake pull from the sides and the center is not gooey. Take out of the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Flip the cake onto a serving platter. If able, serve warm.

Note: When flipping the cake out of the pan, wear your oven mitts! There may be small streams of caramelized sugar that can burn your hands.  

recipe source: use real butter