Peach Raspberry Upside Down Cake

Did anyone else watch the GBBO episode where they did upside down cakes and suddenly realize there was a whole world of options beyond the classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake? Just me? 

Here's the thing. I like pineapple a lot. It's not my favorite fruit, but it's definitely on the higher end of the list as opposed to the lower. That being said, pineapple upside down cake has never been my jam.

​I should probably try it again sometime and see if my feelings have changed. But that time is NOT this time. 

Upside down cakes featured in series 3 (Netflix GBBO Beginnings collection 1), episode 1, Cake Week. This was the Signature Challenge for the bakers, so I didn't feel pressed to go hunt down a recipe by Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood. Instead I decided to sort of cobble a recipe together from some recipe books I had and a general understanding of how upside down cakes work. 

​I think it came out pretty well. There were certainly no complaints in my household. ;) We're a household of two, so take that as you will. 

Ingredients
Topping

• 2 peaches, peeled
  • Peeling peaches is a bit of an adventure. I cut Xes into the bottom of them and boiled them for a few seconds, then popped them in ice water. I got...mixed results. Do you have a better idea of how to peel them easily? :) 
• 6 oz fresh raspberries
• 120 g brown sugar
• 57 g salted butter, melted

Cake

• 180 g all purpose flour
• 110 g white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom to taste
• 180 ml 2% milk
• 115 g butter, melted and cooled a bit
• 1 egg
  1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

Equipment

• 8 inch cake pan
• cooling rack
• bowl & mixing apparatus ;)

Method
1) Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease your cake pan with butter. Don't flour it - just butter. 

2) Combine the brown sugar and the melted butter and spread out into the bottom of the pan.

3) Pit and slice the peaches. Place the peaches and raspberries in a single layer on top of the butter mixture.

4) Whisk together the dry ingredients of the cake batter.

​5) ​Add the remaining ingredients into the bowl and whisk by hand until just combined (or use a hand mixer if you want, but honestly I don't think it needs it - it comes together very easily). 

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​6) Pour the batter gently onto the fruit, trying not to disturb it on the bottom. GENTLY tap the pan to make sure that the batter is fully spread. 

7) Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. I originally checked the cake at 30 and it needed to cook for about 10 more minutes. Ovens vary, so keep an eye on it!

8) Remove from the oven and place on the cooling rack. You don't want to let it cool for too long. Five to ten minutes at most. Carefully turn the cake out onto a plate and serve. 

Final Thoughts
The upside down cake was honestly quite straightforward. The biggest thing with upside down cake, in my opinion, is making sure that it's flavors you like. 

The most dangerous part of upside down cake, honestly, is the process of turning the cake out onto the plate. The pan is still fairly toasty since you want your cake served warm, and that makes it a little more nerve wracking to turn it out. 

But honestly, the cake turned out beautifully and it tasted delightful.

Some other thoughts - peeling peaches is a bitch and I didn't enjoy it. Maybe I'll get better at it if I decide to do it again. 

The upside down cake was mostly decided upon because I had peaches and raspberries in abundance. I wanted to somewhat mimic Manisha's cake from the show. I don't know what her particular recipe entailed, but I like to think this was similar enough. 

Overall a quick, easy dessert that we greatly enjoyed. 

Next time on GBBO, I decided to give Fraisier Cake another attempt. The results...well...I'll let you find out then. ;)