Any Fruit Upside Down Cake

What do fruit trees, wine & upside-down cake have in common….read on….

Summer is here! Warm days and beautiful soft summer nights…and the fruit trees are starting to produce fruit. I am discovering a whole new world here in Sonoma, CA. I just moved to Sonoma last Fall, so I missed all the abundant fruit trees everywhere by the time I got settled in and took in my surroundings. I did make it to a few (well, maybe more than a few) wineries, however and October aka Harvest season, really is a beautiful time in Sonoma.

Sonoma is known for beautiful vineyards and even more beautiful wineries where you can go and sip delicious wines overlooking the most magnificent vistas. Of course, all of that came to a screeching halt rather quickly last March, but now the wineries are starting to open up slowly so, I will make my way back to some new wineries and discover new wines with new friends.

But, I digress…..on a walk around my neighborhood recently, I discovered plum trees everywhere. And, not the kind of plums you find in most grocery stores…but cute, little, mini plums. I googled and they are called Mirabelle plums or cherry plums. I found both the yellow and red varieties. Mirabelle’s are known for being sweet and full of flavor. Used primarily in fruit preserves and pies, the juice is also fermented for wine or distilled into plum brandy. And, they are excellent eaten fresh, right off the tree! I know, because I ate quite a few while I was picking them off the tree filling up a bag to use for an upside-down cake, jam or just to snack on.

So, now, what to do with all those cute, sweet, little mini plums? I always love a good upside-down cake. Easy to make, looks so pretty and they are really delicious, especially with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of slightly sweetened whipping cream. If you don’t have any fruit trees on your walks or in your backyard, hit your local farm market stand and buy whatever fruit you prefer…..

I happened to have a box of The Invisible Chef’s Citrus Pear Coffee & Tea Cake, so, naturally, I thought I would make an upside-down cake for dessert. And my plan was to use the cute little plums I picked, but I ended up making some jam instead and eating them fresh….they were so sweet and juicy! But, I still wanted to make an upside-down cake, so, I happened to have two peaches sitting on my countertop, which is exactly how many peaches I needed for this cake!

Try it……it’s a perfect summertime dessert!

This week’s Think Outside the Box recipe is super simple. You just need a few ingredients to make this wonderfully delightful and pretty upside-down cake. Read through the recipe and gather everything together in one place, now you are ready to bake. Please remember to tag us at #theinvisiblechef and #thechefmixes with your photos. We love to know that you are out there following us as we share all of our wonderful recipes with you.

Enjoy…all the fruits of summer. Love, The Chef

Peach Upside Down Cake

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake

You Will Need:

• 1 Box The Invisible Chef Cake – just about any of our Coffee & Tea Cakes will work – just pick a favorite flavor…..I used the Citrus Pear Coffee & Tea Cake because I happened to have it handy!
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 + 1/4 cup unsalted, softened butter
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 medium peaches, peeled & sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add eggs & 1/2 cup butter and mix at medium until combined. Add half of the package of the cake mix and half of the buttermilk, then repeat adding the rest of the cake mix and buttermilk. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Set aside.

Meanwhile, add the remaining 1/4 cup butter to the prepared cake pan and place in oven until butter is melted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove pan from oven (careful, it will be hot). Sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter. Top with peaches, arranging as desired in a single layer. Spoon cake batter over peaches, smoothing top with spatula.

Bake about 45-50 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Check cake after 30 minutes or so and cover with aluminum foil if cake is browning too quickly.

Remove from oven and run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen cake. Invert cake onto a serving place, and let cool slightly. Serve warm with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.