Peach Upside-Down Skillet Cake
This skillet cake is a delightful way to showcase the season’s best fruit. Gather your cast-iron skillet, a handful of simple ingredients, and prepare to savor a taste of late summer in every bite.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter divided
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 to 4 medium peaches pitted and cut into ½-inch slices – no need to blanch and peel (it is a personal preference)
- ¼ cup roughly chopped toasted almonds
Notes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter and set aside off heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined.
Melt remaining ¼ cup of butter in a small saucepan.
In another bowl, whisk the egg, granular sugar, melted butter, buttermilk, and almond extract.
Whisk dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients to combine.
Add peach slices to the cast iron skillet over the sugar, evenly in a single layer. Sprinkle almonds over the peaches and pour the cake mixture on top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and slightly crisp. Insert a knife in the center; if it comes out clean, it’s done.
Place the skillet on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake around the skillet with a knife.
Place a plate, larger than the pan, over the top of the skillet.
Invert the pan and plate together, so that the cake is on the plate. Gently remove the skillet and scrape any juice left in the pan onto the top of the cake.
Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream, if desired.
Makes 8 servings
John F. Carafoli is an international food stylist, consultant, and author. He wrote the seminal book Food Photography and Styling; Cape Cod Chef’s Table, Recipes from Buzzards Bay to Provincetown; and Great Italian American Food in New England: History, Traditions & Memories. He has been published in Gastronomica, The Journal of Food and Culture, The New York Times, L’italo-Americano Italian Newspaper, and Edible Cape Cod, where he won an EDDY for best use of recipes in a feature. He was profiled in the Italian publication ER (Emilia Romagna) and presented papers at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery in England. Learn more at carafoli.com.
