Hooray! Peach season is here!
There are so many ways to use the luscious fruit, from salads to pies and cobblers. Of course, it’s delicious just eating them right off the tree, or sliced and slightly frozen.
If you’re looking for a more unusual way to serve the juicy fruit, you might want to try this recipe for Peach Upside-down Cake. It’s a lot like the more familiar pineapple upside-down cake, but the peach in this cake is a refreshing change.
Baked in a seasoned, black iron skillet, the caramel-like topping with pecans and maraschino cherries add a special flavor. This dessert is one your family is sure to love.
PEACH UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
PEACH LAYER:
4 tablespoons butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 large fresh peaches (or 5 medium), peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup pecan halves
6 maraschino cherries, halved
CAKE:
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) butter
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
Whipped topping, optional
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon. Pour into skillet and arrange pecans and cherries evenly over top of sugar-butter mixture in the skillet. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar with sliced peaches. Arrange peaches on top of caramel-pecan mixture.
In a large bowl, cream sugar and remaining butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in almond extract.
In separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Spoon over peaches.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges of the cake and invert onto a serving plate. Cut into slices and serve warm. Add a dollop of whipped topping if desired.
Note: If cake is no longer warm, put slices of cake in microwave for a few seconds and serve with whipped topping.
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Looking for a recipe you can’t find? Email me at kbrotherton42@gmail.com and I’ll see if I have it.
