Upside down peach cake

1. The other day I went to my favourite little fruit and veggie market in Calgary and bought a few bags of Okanagan peaches.  I’m probably a little bias because I love love love the Okanagan, but these peaches are off the hook.  They are sweet, and juicy – just downright perfect.

So I searched the Internet for recipe ideas and decided I would go off the beaten path a little.  The first recipe I decided to create was an upside down peach cake.  I’m not a huge cake person, but I wanted to try something new and these peaches were too good not to use – so I just went for it.

It turned out pretty good for a first try, so good that I’m willing to share.  My peaches stuck a little to the bottom of the pan, so I will rework how I would do that in the directions for you guys; but other than that – it’s a hit!

YIELD – 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

PEACHES

• 4 peeled and sliced fresh peaches (I use BC Tree Fruit peaches from the Okanagan)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tbsp. butter
•  dash of cinnamon

CAKE

• 11/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup almond milk ( I use Silk brand original almond milk)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F and make sure rack is in the middle.
2. In a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium heat, melt 1 tbsp. butter.  Add sliced peaches, honey and cinnamon and cook until peaches are soft and liquid has been absorbed.  Set aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, cream honey, maple syrup and butter until well mixed. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; then add to creamed mixture alternately with almond milk, beating well after each addition.
5. *Grease a 9″ spring form pan and pour batter in and set evenly.  Spoon cooled peaches over top and arrange on an angle.
6. Bake at 350° for 30-35 min. or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. If you would like to caramelize the peaches a little – turn your oven to broil for 1-2 min. Then let cool for 10 -15 min. before opening the pan. Cut and serve warm.

*SPECIAL NOTES

You will see in the pictures that when I made my cake, I put the peaches on the bottom and poured the cake mixture on top.  Once the cake was cooled (although I don’t think I let it cool enough), I inverted the cake and the peaches were stuck to the pan bottom (even though I did grease the pan).  So my suggestion is to cheat a little and put the cake batter in first and pour the peaches on top.

I hope you get a chance to make this delicious cake, it’s perfect for a sweet treat, served with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.  But, it’s also good for a sweet breakfast every once in a while.

Till the next recipe,

Kristen xo