This Easy Peach Upside Down Cake Is Pure Summer
Serious Eats / Morgan Glaze HuntEven on the hottest days of summer, you’ll find me in my kitchen with the oven on, dreaming up ways to turn my weekly farmers market hall into baked delights. One of my favorite ways to celebrate that haul is turning my favorite stone fruit—peaches—into this sumptuous upside down cake. This topsy-turvy cake may look fancy, but it’s simple enough that even an inexperienced baker can nail its perfect flipped presentation.The process of making any upside down cake, including this one, is fairly simple: The fruit goes in the bottom of the cake pan along with melted butter and sugar, then cake batter is poured on top. After baking, you turn the pan over to reveal a gorgeous cake with golden-brown caramelized edges and juicy peaches above a sturdy but tender cake. It’s peach perfection.But to ensure that the cake is flavorful and releases from the pan easily in one-fell swoop, there are a few techniques to get right. We asked recipe developer Marianne Williams to methodically flip cake after cake until she perfected the process. Here’s what we learned about how to bake a perfect peach upside down cake that's sure to be a-peach-iated by everyone who eats it.Tips for Perfecting a Peach Upside Down CakeStart with fresh or frozen peaches. Yes, the old adage rings true here, “fresh is best.” But fresh isn’t always possible. Where I live in New England our peach season is brief—maybe six weeks, tops. When fresh peaches are available, they are my go-to with this cake. The best fresh peaches for baking are ripe but still a little firm—the fruit should have a little give but shouldn't bruise when gently pressed. If the peaches are too ripe they will turn mushy and fall apart once baked and flipped out of the pan. Also avoid underripe peaches, which tend to lack the flavor development and sweetness of ripe ones, which can lead to a bland cake. (For more information on peach storage and ripening, you can read our guide on how to ripen peaches.)When you don't have fresh, in-season peaches on hand but still want a sublime peach cake, we recommend using frozen peach slices. We can confirm through rounds of testing that this cake is still incredibly delicious and will have the same impressive presentation when made with frozen peaches. Remember that frozen peaches are frozen at their peak of ripeness, which helps almost guarantee consistent quality. If using frozen peaches, make sure to look for slices that are about 3/4-inch thick and avoid chopped peaches, which may overcook and turn mushy when baked. To avoid excess moisture that can make the cake soggy, be sure to thaw, drain, and pat the peaches dry with paper towels thoroughly before adding them to the pan.Skip the stand mixer and keep it simple with a hand-whisked batter. No need to pull out a stand mixer or food processor. In our testing, we found that hand-whisking was not only more practical, but it also minimized the risk of over-aerating the batter, which would lighten and tenderize the cake too much. When a cake batter is made in a stand mixer, the process involves creaming and lightening butter with sugar before vigorously whipping the batter. The goal of this is to incorporate as much air as possible to help lighten and tenderize the cake. This is great if your goal is a delicate, fluffy cake, but here we needed a sturdier cake that can support the peach topping and hold together once flipped. So, put your arm muscles to work and get whisking.Build flavor with brown butter and cardamom. Whisking simple melted butter into our cake batter worked perfectly well in our tests, but we found that taking just a few minutes to brown the butter first produced a richer, nuttier flavor that complemented the sweet peaches. A hint of cardamom brought a subtle warmth to the cake, which added depth of flavor. When browning the butter, make sure to swirl the pan constantly to avoid burning the milk solids as they cook. Once browned, quickly transfer the butter to a bowl. If left in the skillet too long, the browned milk solids may overcook and turn bitter.Cool the cake briefly before flipping it. Cooling the cake for about 15 minutes and then inverting it while it's still warm guarantees an easy release. If you’re not 100% confident with your cake-flipping skills, you can place a parchment round in the bottom of the cake pan to further insure an easy release before layering ingredients in. Just note that using a parchment round will minimize the caramelization around the bottom edges of the peaches.Our final advice for making sure the peaches all release from the pan once flipped is to just be confident with your flip. Flip the cake in one swift, steady motion. If a few peaches remain stuck to the pan that is totally fine—just use a fork to gently lift and rearrange them on top of the cake and no one will even know.Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F (175℃). Spray inside of a 9-inch round metal cake pan or cast-iron skillet with cooking spray; set aside. In a small saucepan, melt 10 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, stirring and swirling skillet constantly with rubber spatula, until butter is golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 3 to 8 minutes. Pour the brown butter into a large heatproof bowl; set aside. In the now empty saucepan, add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and melt over medium heat. Once melted, add brown sugar and cook, stirring often, until sugar is melted and starts to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan or skillet, and spread into an even layer to cover the bottom of the pan. Serious Eats / Morgan Glaze HuntPat peach slices dry with paper towels. Starting around the outside edges of the cake pan, arrange peach slices flat side down, over brown sugar mixture in tight concentric circles, with concave sides of peach slices facing in. Fill in any gaps with remaining small peach slices; set aside. Serious Eats / Morgan Glaze HuntWhisk the granulated sugar into the reserved brown butter in bowl until smooth. Add eggs and whisk until incorporated. Serious Eats / Morgan Glaze HuntIn a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and fold until just combined. Add buttermilk, and stir until combined. Add remaining flour mixture, and fold until just combined. Pour batter over peaches in the prepared cake pan, and spread into an even layer to completely cover peaches. Serious Eats / Morgan Glaze HuntBake until cake is deep golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out mostly clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool slightly on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Place a serving plate over the cake, and carefully invert cake onto the plate. (If any peaches stick to pan, remove and position on top of the cake). Let cake cool for at least 30 minutes. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cardamom, if desired. Serious Eats / Morgan Glaze HuntSpecial Equipment9-inch round metal cake pan or cast-iron skilletMake-Ahead and StorageCover and store at room temperature for up to three days.
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