Peach Upside-Down Cake -- The Last Sweet Taste of August

One week left of summer and I was oscillating between readiness and pure terror on a roughly hourly basis. I walked the Scotlandville Magnet campus during the open house on Thursday and everything was larger than I remembered from my visit in sixth grade — the hallways, the science wing, the library. Students from the upper grades moved through it with an ease I found both inspiring and slightly intimidating. They knew where they were going. I would learn where I was going. That is different from knowing, but it is not lesser.

I met my homeroom teacher, Mr. Broussard, who teaches AP History and speaks with the kind of precision that tells you he is not going to let imprecision pass without comment. I liked him immediately. I also found my locker, tried the combination three times to make sure I had it memorized, and stood at it for a moment feeling the strange thrill of a threshold.

Mama cooked dinner all week because she said it was her job to feed me well before school started and she intended to fulfill that obligation seriously. Tuesday was red beans. Thursday was stuffed bell peppers. Friday was her smothered chicken with rice and gravy. I ate all of it with the appetite of someone who was stress-metabolizing and also genuinely hungry. She packed me a good lunch every day that week even though school hadn't started yet — just as practice, she said. Really I think it was because she wanted to do something for me and feeding me was the clearest way she knew how.

Saturday I made one last summer dessert: peach cobbler, because the peaches at the farmers market were at their peak — soft and fragrant and so ripe they left juice on your fingers when you cut them. I made a simple biscuit-topped cobbler with cinnamon and brown sugar and fresh peaches piled high. Daddy ate it warm with vanilla ice cream and said it tasted like August. That was perfect. That was exactly right. It was the last Saturday of summer and it tasted like August and I was almost ready.

The farmers market peaches that Saturday were too good to let go of with just one dessert — soft, fragrant, and practically begging to be turned into something worth remembering. I had cobbler on my mind all week, but when I got home and looked at those golden peaches laid out on the counter, I wanted something that would really show them off. This peach upside-down cake does exactly that: the fruit caramelizes in the pan and gets flipped to the top, all amber and glossy, like summer turning itself inside out one last time before it leaves.

Peach Upside-Down Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 3 medium fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan well on the sides.
2. Make the caramel base. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the cake pan either on the stovetop over low heat or in the oven for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon until combined and spreadable across the bottom of the pan.
3. Arrange the peaches. Fan the peach slices over the brown sugar mixture in a single, overlapping layer, starting from the outside edge and working inward. Set aside.
4. Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the remaining 2 tablespoons softened butter with the granulated sugar until light and combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract.
6. Combine the batter. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir just until the batter comes together — do not overmix.
7. Fill the pan. Gently spoon and spread the batter over the peaches in an even layer, being careful not to disturb the fruit arrangement.
8. Bake. Bake for 38 to 42 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
9. Cool and invert. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for exactly 10 minutes — no longer, or the caramel will set and stick. Run a thin knife around the edge, place a serving plate firmly over the pan, and flip in one confident motion. Lift the pan away slowly to reveal the peach topping.
10. Serve. Serve warm or at room temperature. A scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside is, as anyone who has ever met a peach in August already knows, the right call.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 285 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 145mg