Peach Almond Upside Down Cake

The snow finally hit us this week, and even though I’ve spent the last two months complaining about the lack of snow, once it got her I wanted something that reminded me of summer. In the summer I make fruit tarts almost weekly, and always peach or nectarine because they’re Bo’s favorites. So, I figured something peachy would hit the spot.

Few things in this world are better than fruit that bakes up in brown sugar. Seriously, I don’t know if I can think of anything better than that. Throw it on top of a somewhat dense cake with a nice almond bite to it and you’re sitting on perfection folks. Oh yeah, did I mention that this falls in the healthy category too, it’s adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. It just gets better and better!

First, put a tablespoon of butter in a 9” round pan and throw it in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt and just start to brown.

Add some brown sugar.

Press it down with a spatula into an even layer.

Top with peach slices. Eat the left over peach slices.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds, salt, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, put the white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs.

Whisk it for a minute until thick and creamy.

Maggie, newest family member, constantly laying right where I need to stand. She’s too cute to make move though.

The two perfect children (about two hours before Anna’s epic 5.5 hour meltdown). Looking back, I’ll try to remember the day like this, and forget about that dark time. Shudder.

Add the melted butter, whisk.

We’re looking good here!

Now, add the sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract. Yep, whisk it.

Last addition: throw in the flour mixture and give it one more good whisk. The batter will be quite thick.

Finished batter.

Use a spatula to dollop it over the top of the peaches, then press it down into an even layer and smooth out the top.

Here’s the smoothed out batter. Drop the pan onto the counter from a couple of inches up a few times to make sure the batter falls down around the peaches. Pop it in the oven for 40 minutes.

Viola! Nice and golden brown. Let it sit in the pan for 5 – 10 minutes, no more!

Flip it out onto your platter! Don’t worry if some of the peaches fall off, you can see where they went and put them back. I’m totally not saying that’s what happened here. I mean, it’s not like I was feeding Anna or reading Oliver a book or two before nap and lost track of time. It’s not as if the cake was nearly completely cooled in the pan so only three of the peaches actually stayed in the cake when I flipped it, while the rest stuck to the pan. Not at all. Never. (At least you can’t tell!)

Now just bite your tongue, leave the room, do what ever you must to give the cake a couple of hours to cool. It  won’t be easy, that much I can assure you.

Yep, this is a keeper.

I may have quickly whipped up some sweetened whipped cream, then sprinkled on some brown sugar. I may have done this looooong before dinner, or Bo got home, or the kids got up from nap. I may have done this more than once…

Here’s your printable:

Peach Almond Upside Down Cake

Yield: 10 slices

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

Topping

• 1 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 lb peaches, peeled and sliced into ¾" thick wedges

Cake

• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup ground almonds
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ cup white sugar
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• ½ cup non-fat sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp almond extract

Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350ºF with a rack in the middle position.

Topping

1. Put the butter in a 9" round pan and place in the oven for 3 minutes, until the butter is melted and starting to brown.
2. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly into the pan, then press into an even layer with a spatula. Top with peach slices and set aside.

Cake

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and salt.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric whisk (or beaters) to whisk together the white (¾ cup) and brown (¼ cup) sugars and eggs until thick and creamy. Add the melted butter, whisk. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract, whisk. Add the flour mixture and whisk. The batter will be quite thick after the flour mixture addition.
3. Use a spatula to dollop the batter onto the peaches, then gently work into the edges and smooth the top. Pat the pan onto the counter a couple of times to ensure the batter drops between the peaches.
4. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until cakes is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Let the cake rest on a cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes, no more. Flip out onto a platter, and let cool completely before serving.

[nutr-label servingsize=’1 slice’ servings=’10’ calories=’280′ totalfat=’11’ satfat=’6′ cholesterol=’65’ sodium=’180′ carbohydrates=’41 fiber=’1′ protein=’4′]