Peaches are in season and though I love them I was a bit surprised why I haven't used them beyond cocktails, salads and jams? I quickly ran a search for options, only to land in a sea of possibilities. Cakes, desserts, ice- creams, stir frys and what not.
Life is better than death, I believe,
if only because it is less boring, and because it has fresh peaches in it.
- Alice Walker
On that thought, to crown this fruit's versatility this recipe was apt, like quite literally... the dripping caramel peaches sitting on a beautiful cinnamon spiced cake, yumm it even sounds like a burst of flavourful melody, doesn't it? and topping it with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream would take the whole saga to yet another level.
So let me take you through this upside down peach cinnamon cake.
First, here is the picture of shabbily sliced peaches by me. Sorry for this messy pic. As I am yet to master the art of pitting it tactfully , and if you too are sailing in the same boat, welcome to my world, and had not the final outcome looked pretty pretty, I would never have posted this pic. (winky wink). So don't bother if those chunks don't behave well, just go ahead with the rest of the procedure. I'm sure its going to shine towards the end.
Boil water and sugar in an oven proof pan, until it starts to caramelize and turns a light honey color. This is another reason why I chose this recipe. (I wanted to test my new oven proof pan). If you don't have one...don't worry! once the caramel is honey colored, stir in butter, lemon juice and peach juice and stir gently and just carefully transfer the caramel-juice mix onto your baking tin.
Allow it to cool lightly and then arrange peach slices in caramel-juice mix, overlapping to fit.
For the cake batter, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices in a bowl. In another bowl, beat on medium speed, sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extracts, till smooth. Mix in the flour mixture and buttermilk until blended. Spoon over the peaches evenly.
Bake for 35-40 mins or until toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in skillet for 5 mins.
Run a knife around the edges and invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature or with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream. Tastes yummm, alike.
It will shine in the end, now that's what i'm talking about. Enjoyyy!!!
Slice of sunlight!
With ice-cream.
Ingredients
- For the Topping:
- Sugar- 1/2 cup
- Butter- 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
- Peach juice (nectar)- 2 tbsp
- Peaches pitted, peeled and sliced- 2-3( depends on size, just enough to cover your pan)
- For the cake:
- Cake flour- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp
- Baking powder- 1 tsp
- Baking soda- 1/2 tsp
- Grated nutmeg- 1/4 tsp
- Ground cinnamon- 1/4 tsp
- Sugar- 1/3 cup
- Butter- 2 tbsp
- Egg- 1 large
- Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
- Almond extract- 1/4 tsp
- Butter milk -1/2 cup
Directions
- For Topping:
- 1In a 10 inch non stick oven proof skillet/ pan, mix sugar and 3 tbsp water. Boil till sugar begins to caramelize and turns a light honey color.
- 2If you don't have a non stick oven proof skillet/pan...don't worry! once the caramel is honey colored, remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice, peach juice and carefully transfer the caramel-juice mix onto your baking pan. (skip the transferring process otherwise) If the caramel hardens , stir over low heat until dissolved.
- 3Cool slightly and arrange the peach slices over the caramel- juice mixture , overlapping to fit till it covers the bottom of the pan.
- To make the cake:
- 1Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices in a bowl.
In another bowl, beat on medium speed, sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extracts, till smooth. Mix in the flour mixture and buttermilk until blended. Heat oven to 350 degree F. Spoon the batter over the peaches evenly. - 2Bake for 35-40 mins or until toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in skillet for 5 mins.
Run a knife around the edges and invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature or with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream. Tastes yummm, alike - Tip:
- 1Can be baked upto 6 hours ahead, cover and keep at room temperature to maintain moisture.
