Upside-Down Peach Cake
This upside-down peach cake pairs the natural sweetness of ripe, summer peaches with the cozy warmth of cinnamon sugar. Thinly sliced peaches are layered over a dusting of cinnamon sugar, then topped with a cake batter flavored with vanilla and lemon zest. As the baked and cooled cake is flipped over, a spiral of cinnamon-scented caramelized peaches is revealed. Each bite of this soft and tender cake is a marriage of buttery richness and sweet, comforting peaches.
Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits. You can’t beat the joy of eating a perfectly ripe peach and I love coming up with recipes that celebrate them in all of their goodness, like this cake!
I didn’t want to make just any kind of cake. I wanted to make one that really made these summer peaches shine! I felt an upside-down cake would be perfect for doing that.
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- 3 medium peaches, ripe but firm
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/3 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 medium lemon, zested
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract