Tasty Tuesday: Berry Peach Upside-Down Cake

I’ve been a sucker for new approaches to upside-down cakes ever since last fall when I tried an upside-down butterscotch apple cake.  So, when I saw a recipe for a berry peach version (via Blogging Over Thyme), I decided that it was a must-try…especially considering all of the blackberries we have around our house these days.

I decided to use the original version of the recipe from CookingLight and adjusted a few things, like adding cinnamon and reducing the amount of egg (because I was running low).  The result was so good that I actually made a second cake right away and brought it to Vermont for my mom’s birthday.  She approved!

The recipe linked above gives you all the ingredients and directions, but here are some of my play-by-plays.

Your first step in this recipe is to prep the fruit by melting the butter in an ovenproof skillet (you can use cast iron, but you’ll see I used a standard stainless steel skillet) and then sprinkling in the brown sugar.

Next, slice your peach thinly (I found using a firm, barely ripe peach works best because it is easy to peel and cut).

Now you show your artistic side and arrange the peaches and berries in the skillet…and voila!

Then prep your batter.  For nearly the first time ever, I actually used buttermilk when the recipe called for it.  I still need to research why buttermilk matters, but that’s for another day.  I also saw on the recipe reviews that some people’s cakes turned out dry.  For that reason, I decided to weigh my flour instead of relying on my measuring cups (the recipe says 6 ounces or 1 and 1/3 cup).  My cake definitely didn’t turn out dry, so I think it worked!  I also added in a teaspoon of cinnamon because I just felt like it belonged there, and it did.

After you’ve prepped your batter, spoon it carefully over the berries.

Then smooth out the batter and pop it in the oven!

The recipe said to wait for the cake to cool completely before flipping it out of the pan, but who has patience for that?  I threw caution to the wind and flipped it after about 10 minutes.  My trick was to pull the edges away from the pan slightly using my fingers, then sliding a knife around carefully.  Then I just securely put a plate over it, applied a lot of pressure and then quickly flipped.

And there we had it…

Despite looking like a lot of steps, this recipe is actually very quick and easy.  When I wasn’t snapping pictures during my second cake, it took only about 15 minutes of prep and then 35 minutes of baking.  I used all blackberries, but this would be delicious with blueberries, raspberries, or a mix.

So, what do you think?  Does it look like something you would try??  Have you had any bad cake flipping experiences?  You know I’d love to hear all about it.