Peaches are about to go by in our little corner of the world. Hager Brothers in Shelburne, Massachusetts, ran out last week, and Clarkdale in Deerfield has just announced that this will be its last week!
I’m hoping Apex in Shelburne can hold out a little longer, but the Smiths did seem to have more apples than peaches when I stopped by the other day. I haven’t checked this week at Pine Hill Orchard in Colrain, but last time I was there apples were taking over shelf space from their softer cousins. Sigh….
Of course, this should be expected. It IS September. And we DID first see peaches in July, a premature treat. But I’m a bit downcast nonetheless. I could keep eating them all year. And of course cooking with them.
Today I’m making a batch of peach jam so we’ll have a taste of peaches in months to come.
Meanwhile, here’s a very peachy recipe. I took this upside-down cake to a party a few days ago, and it was a huge hit. Make the recipe if you can still find peaches. Or tuck it away until next year.
Mother Jan arranges the peaches.
Ingredients:
for the topping:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) sweet butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
the juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cups peach slices
for the cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
First make the topping (which goes on the bottom!).
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until the combination melts and bubbles—3 to 4 minutes.
Transfer the brown-sugar mixture into a 9-inch-square cake pan. Spread it through the bottom of the pan. Arrange the peach slices on top as artistically as you can. (My mother did ours, and like me she’s a better cook than an artist.)
For the cake cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Add the baking powder and salt. Stir in the flour alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the vanilla, and pour the batter over the rhubarb mixture.
Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center (but not too far down; don’t hit the peaches!) comes out clean, about 40 minutes. If the cake is brown but not done before this happens, decrease the oven temperature and continue baking.
Allow the cake to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife, and invert the cake onto a serving plate held over the skillet. Turn upside-down. Remove pan.
Serve alone or with whipped cream. Serves 9.
As with my recent rhubarb cake I should think you could absolutely bake this pan in a 10-inch iron skillet (heating the butter, brown sugar, and lemon juice in it first, and then piling on the other ingredients). I couldn’t find my skillet, however—I think it must be in storage in another state!–so I used a square pan and can only report on those results.
Tags: Late Summer Recipes, Peach Cakes, Peach Upside-Down Cake
This entry was posted on Monday, September 13th, 2010 at 4:00 am and is filed under Cakes, Pies, and Pastry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Love the title:) And this looks soo good! I love peach desserts of all kinds!!
I am sure this is a peach of a recipe. There is something almost magic about an upside down cake. Another winner. Off to post!
Your peach cake looks fabulous–made my mouth water. 🙂 I made your “Peach Crumble” the other day–so good. I like the subtle ginger taste. I used my food processor to cut in the butter and it made a nice, fine “crumble” topping. Peach jam is a good idea. too…might get out my canning pots again. I’m thinking of freezing some peach slices, too, to preserve that sweet goodness for the winter.
Could you please make a calorie free version of this – my clothes are too tight!! Good to see your Mum looking well.
Frayed, I’m sorry about the calories. All I can suggest is that you do what I did–make it for a party; that way you only have to eat a teensy bite (I did enjoy my bite, but it left my waistline unscathed). Sue, E., and EveryDay, thanks for sharing your love of peaches with me…….