I’d been talking about experimenting with peaches for weeks and on Monday I decided it was time to try my luck with this upside down situation. Using a cast-iron skillet and coconut-palm sugar, I had visions of burnt peaches sticking to the bottom of the pan. But the result was a delightfully moist, summer-y, squish-in-your-mouth slice with crispy fried buttery almondy edges. Next time I will try this same recipe with apricots, pears or plums.
Ingredients
4 ripe peaches
3 tbsp butter (for pan)
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar (only because it’s the only thing I found in the cupboard, but brown sugar will do)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 buttermilk
Instructions
Set oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Smear a generous coating of butter onto bottom and sides of any 9-inch round baking vessel you have lying around— a regular cake pan will do, and so will a cast-iron pan.
Cover bottom of pan with coconut palm (or brown) sugar.
Cut peaches into 1/8 slices. I recommend doing this by slicing peach in half then twisting each half in opposite directions to dislodge the pit.
Arrange slices in desired circular pattern on bottom of pan, starting from the outside and moving inwards.
In a small bowl, combine all purpose flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together butter and granulated sugar for a few minutes until fluffy and light in colour.
Whisk in eggs one by one. The mixture should be quite gloopy and smooth.
Add dry mixture and buttermilk to butter-egg mixture bit by bit, whisking between additions, until a thick batter comes together (the first thing that came to mind for me when observing the ideal consistency and colour was hummus, but with some elasticity).
Pour the batter on top of the peaches. Flatten top with a spatula.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until knife comes out clean. When ready, the top should look caramel-coloured and slightly crispy, and there may be some darker browned bubbles.
Run a knife around the edges of the pan and let rest for about 5 minutes.
Once slightly cooled but still hot, grab a plate and place it upside down on top of the pan. Using oven mitts, clamp both sides of plate and pan together firmly and swiftly flip it all upside down. Now, the pan should be on top of the plate. Carefully lift up the pan, resulting in the cake being on the plate and the steaming peaches being right-side-up.
When you have a slice, best to have some vanilla ice cream on hand.
