Amazing Cast Iron Pour-Over Peach Upside Down Cake
This Peach Upside Cake showcases sweet summer peaches in a delicious way. (Yes, you can use thawed, frozen peaches in the off-season.) The cake has added flavor and structure by adding ground almonds to the batter. Peach slices are layered over an easy-to-make caramel. Once baked, the cake is inverted to reveal a show-stopping beautiful peach cake that will impress anyone!
Servings 6
Equipment
- 1 10" cast iron skillet see notes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus for the skillet
- 6 tablespoons butter melted and cooled (for the batter)
- 1 cup sugar; divided (7 ounces )
- Salt
- 1 pound peaches (about 2 or 3 peaches_ halved, pitted, and cut into 3/4-inch wedges, or 12 ounces frozen sliced peaches, thawed and drained
- ½ cup sliced almonds toasted (for the batter)
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 5 ounces
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Wet ingredients:
- 1 large egg plus
- 1 large yolk
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest note: I think almond extract would be a great flavor substitute
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare toasted sliced almonds:
- Pulse almonds in food processor until finely ground, about 10 pulses; set aside.
For the skillet:
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
- Add ¼ cup sugar and pinch salt and cook, whisking constantly, until sugar is melted, smooth, and deep golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Off heat, carefully arrange peaches cut side down in tight circle around edge of skillet, overlapping as needed. Arrange remaining peaches in center of skillet.
For the cake batter:
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ground almonds together in large bowl.
- In separate bowl, whisk milk, egg and yolk, lemon zest, vanilla, remaining 6 tablespoons melted butter, and remaining ¾ cup sugar together until smooth.
- Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until just combined.
Bake the cake:
- Pour batter over peaches and spread into even layer. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating skillet halfway through baking.
- Using oven mitts, transfer skillet to wire rack and let cake cool for 10 minutes.
- Being careful of hot skillet handle, run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen.
Release the cake:
- Place wire rack over skillet, and holding rack tightly, invert cake onto rack and let sit until cake releases itself from skillet, about 1 minute.
- Place rack over baking sheet to catch drips. NOTE: I found I didn't have any drips. Using a large cake spatula, I transferred the cake onto a large plate.
- Remove skillet; gently scrape off any peaches stuck in skillet and arrange on top of cake. Let cake cool completely, about 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream for a delicious finish.
Notes
If using frozen peaches, be sure to thaw and drain them before using; otherwise they will produce a mushy cake.
If you don't own a 10" cast-iron skillet, be aware that you will have a lot less batter to cover the peaches. Can you use a cake pan? I haven't tried that, but I think that could work.
Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen "Cook It In Cast Iron" Cookbook