In keeping with Menu For One's effort to make the most of these finals days of summer (and by "making the most" I mean making food memories of fresh, sweet corn, peaches, berries, etc. to keep with me throughout the cold winter months), I bring you Peach Upside-Down Cake. It's dessert. It's breakfast. It's both. It will bring a smile to your face.
You can assemble it pretty quickly, but if you like, can make it the night before, and easily reheat the next morning. For some of you, you might have transitioned over into Fall in your neck of the woods. Hello, season of stews, and braises, and hot chocolate, and apple cider! Hello, apple picking and corn mazes! For the rest of us, who, willingly or unwillingly, are still surviving 90 degree whether (WHEN WILL SUMMER EVER END? IT'S OCTOBER.), the least we can do is enjoy one more peach, one more ear of corn.
This recipe for upside-down cake makes two, and as I hinted above, enjoy one for dessert and save the other for breakfast. It's great after being heated up in the toaster oven or microwave. And feel free to experiment with other stone fruits, or apples for that matter. If you do try some variation, let me know!
Peach Upside-Down Cake
adapted from a recipe by Alton Brown
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 medium peaches
3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger (I didn't have any on hand an experimented with ground ginger...ok, but not the same. Get the crystallized ginger.)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 kosher salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you haven't made upside-down cake before, the gist of it is that you assemble and bake the cake upside down and then enjoy it right side up. So start assembling the caramelized fruit part of the cake that will ultimately become the part you dig into first. Divide 1 tablespoons of the butter between (2) 10-ounce to 12-ounce ramekins. Evenly divide the brown sugar between the ramekins; sprinkling it into the bottoms of the dishes. Carefully cut the peaches into 12 to 14 pieces - I didn't bother peeling it. Lay the peaches on top of the sugar and sprinkle with the ginger.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (don't skip this step by just adding these ingredients one by one to the final mixture - it's important to make sure that the cake rises as it should). In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, buttermilk, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Then, add the wet mixture to the dry mixture (the muffin-method!) and stir just until combined. Pour the batter over the peaches; dividing the mixture evenly between the dishes. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and the sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees F.
Remove from the oven to a rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each dish and turn upside down onto a serving plate. If you're planning to enjoy this for breakfast the next day, I don't think I even tried to plate the cake the second time around. Just enjoy the cake upside-down and it will be just as delicious. The brown sugar and the fruit juice combine to make a light caramel sauce and it is just so nice. The original recipes leaves you the option to add whip cream, but I say don't bother. You risk covering up the softness of the baked peaches and the fluffiness of the cake layer (which is more muffin-like/English pudding-like than a birthday or coffee cake-like). Enjoy! And let me know what you think!
