Gluten Free Peach Upside-Downer Recipe

I know I talked up my peach from Sicily. It was delicious. But I've also had some delicious Utah peaches. My mom picked up a half box of local peaches from Harward Farms (located to the south in Springville, Utah), and sent me home with some the other day. I set them out in a row on my counter, and they'd been taunting me since. I wanted to eat them fresh, because the peach texture is lost somewhat in either baking or canning. I proposed to the boy that I make some peach jam. He reminded me that he's "not much of a peach guy."

Of course not. Instead, I opened up my recent purchase from Dorie Greenspan, the one that people follow in a cultish kind of way, called Baking from my Home to Yours. The pictures are large and delicious, even though there's not one for every single recipe (like I wish there was.) I wonder where Dorie's from, because she has what seems like a different regional take on desserts that I feel like I do. Who knows - maybe she eats fish for every meal! Looks like she lives in Connecticut, works in New York, and has a strong French influence in her cooking.

Well, I decided on the peach version of Dorie's upside-downer. I've made a pineapple one before, but that's kind of a 1970s housewife classic, rather than a French/Dorie classic. I've also made this one dairy free, which can be a challenge. It was my first foray into coconut oil, and I think I like it. It's still got some richness to it, that you often miss when you leave out the butter. It's not greasy, especially since the topping (oil and sugar) is boiled together before adding the fruit. It's a really simple taste, and it almost holds the same delicate fresh peach taste that just eating a juicy peach does. It doesn't dull the taste down like canning. I was glad to discover that. It's amazing too, because I decreased the sugar from Dorie's. You tasted the sweet of the peaches, rather than too much sweet in the cake. Healthier for the win!

One more science bit about this - when it's ready to come out of the oven, the cake will have risen about 6 inches above the cake pan. Since I was baking in my little easy bake, I thought it would be stuck on the roof of the oven. Fortunately, I was able to get the cake out in one piece, and it's really important to then let it rest for 30 minutes so the syrup and cake can meld together. You know, get all happy. It's a great combination.

Gluten Free Peach Upside-Downer Recipe
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours
[Printer Friendly]


1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup sugar, divided in half
3 large, perfectly ripe peaches, peeled and sliced thin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used hemp)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The cake will be baked in an 8 inch round cake pan. In a small bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum and salt.
In a small saucepan, combine 4 tablespoons of coconut oil (1/4 cup) and 1/3 cup sugar. Cook, while stirring, until the the mixture boils. Pour it over the bottom of the cake pan, and swirl the pan until it's even. Slice the peaches and arrange on the bottom of the pan in the coconut oil mixture.

In a stand mixer, whip together the remaining coconut oil (1/2 cup) and sugar (1/3 cup) for several minutes. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is pale and creamy. Pour in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the flour mixture. Then add the milk, and the remaining flour mixture. Spoon the batter over the peaches and spread to the edges.

Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes. The top of the cake will be golden brown, the peach syrup will be bubbling around the edges, and the cake itself will have raised several inches out of the pan! This is normal, and how it should be. Remove the cake from the oven, and let it sit for 30 minutes, so that the syrup can absorb into the cake.

Place the serving plate on top of the cake pan, and then flip it onto the serving plate. It should come out cleanly, because of the syrup and peaches. The cake will have sunk back down into the pan as it cooled. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and serve in wedges.

Check out some other health(ier) options at this week's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday!