Peach Upside Down Cake

With my pops just back from China, he brought with him some fresh peaches that we can rarely get our hands on in this part of the Equator.

Back in the days when I was rocking up North, I remember peaches being one of my favorite summer fruits.  The sweet fragrance of the fruit and its fuzzy flesh somehow makes it a wonderful fruit. But of course, I had been eating it as it is - a piece of fruit, and had never tried it in any culinary attempts.

Now that I had my hands on two large fuzzy peaches which undoubtably will be a challenge to finish it all on my own, I thought to myself: what better opportunity to try some sweets with peaches than now?

So I began my search on some cake recipes that called for peaches, and finally decided to adapt the cranberry upside down cake recipe from Joy of Baking.

So, here's my rendition (and first trial) of my Peach Upside Down Cake:

Peach Upside Down Cake

Peach Upside Down Cake

Before we begin with either the toppings or the cake batter, first preheat your oven to 177 degrees Celcius. Then, grease a 9-inch (23 cm) round cake pan. 

I. Toppings 

Ingredients: 

2 large peaches, wedged
140 gm light brown sugar
70 gm unsalted butter  

1.  Heat the butter and the sugar in a saucepan on medium heat until butter melted and sugar starts to caramelized (or, until sugar turns lightly brown)
2.  Remove from heat and pour onto cake tray.
3.  Lay the wedged peaches in circles  

II. Cake Batter 

Ingredients: 

195 all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
113 gm unsalted butter
200 gm granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
120 ml milk
1/4 tsp cream of tartar 

1.  In a large bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
2.  Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the vanilla extract, cream until evenly.
4.  Then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Make sure the yolks are well beat before adding in the next yolk.
5.   Add in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk in the following order: flour - milk - flour - milk - flour. Be sure to end with dry ingredients.
6.  In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with cream of tartar until the egg white forms a firm peak.
7.  Fold in the egg white into the cake batter in two additions.
8.  Pour the cake batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top.
9.  Bake in preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until cake is browned and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
10.  Remove from oven, place on a wire rack and cool for about 15 minute.
11.  Run a sharp knife round the edge of the pan, invert the cake onto a serving plate, and serve.

Here are some tips/reminders:

• If you do not have any cream of tartar on hand, you can replace the 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.  I used the replacement for my cake, and it turned out fine.
• Remember to always whisk your egg whites in a clean bowl. Egg whites are always very sensitive, so you need to make sure that the bowl and the whisk / mixer that you use is clean and free from oil. 
• If you are using frozen fruits (I freeze my peaches overnight), do not thaw your fruits. But bear in mind that frozen fruits takes longer to cook. Of course, the cooking time depends highly on your individual ovens, too.