Peach Upside-Down Cake

PEACH UPSIDE-DOWN CORNMEAL CAKE

adapted from Cory Schrieber and Julie Richardson, Rustic Fruit Desserts, a cookbook that I highly recommend

serves 8

The original recipe calls for baking in a 10" cast-iron skillet or in eight 5-oz ramekins. I use instead an  8" square Pyrex baking dish, and that works well.  I have always made this with peaches, but the recipe also suggests other stone fruit: apricots, nectarines, plums or cherries. The last time I made this, I forgot to put buttermilk on the shopping list, so I used some dried buttermilk powder that I keep on hand, and the cake was still lovely. Leftover cake is delicious for breakfast! 

FRUIT TOPPING

Enough stone fruit to fill the bottom of an 8" square baking dish (e.g., about 4-5 peaches, sliced)

1/4 cup (2 oz) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves and blends with the butter to form a kind of caramel. Spread the butter/sugar mix on the bottom of the baking pan and arrange the fruit on top of it, arranged in rows or circles or however you like.

CAKE

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup fine cornmeal

1-1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. fine sea salt

1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup buttermilk

Put in a medium-size bowl the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk them together and set aside.

In a larger bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar, beating for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.

Spoon the batter on top of the fruit and gently spread it over the fruit layer.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back lightly when touched. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before flipping over. It's nice to do the flip at the table, so guests can see the transformation.

Delicious served as is, but also nice with some low-fat vanilla cream as an option for a topping.