Individual Peach Upside Down Cake

Peaches are my all time favorite fruit and I've been making a lot of peach pies lately. But I wanted to try something a little different so when I found this recipe from, another one of my favorites, Alton Brown, I thought it sounded really good. Then, when I read all the positive reviews on it, well, it sounded even better!

It goes together really quickly and it's easy, too. But, of course, the best part is that it's so darn good! And just out of the oven..well, you can see I couldn't stop at one bite! It was still so warm that the whipped cream just melted and dripped down the sides. Thank goodness they're small individual cakes! I think my son, Kris, summed it best when he took his first bite and said, "WOW!"

To begin, get out four 6 oz. ramekins. I used my old fire king glass custard cups that worked great.
I put the 3 tablespoons of butter into one of the cups and melted it in the microwave.

Reserve one tablespoon of melted butter for the batter and divide the remaining 2 tablespoons between the 4 cups.

Then sprinkle the 1/4 cup of brown sugar among the cups.

Take your peeled peaches, or blanched and peeled peaches which I highly recommend, (much easier, but slippery), and cut them into 12 to 14 slices.
Place the slices over the butter and sugar in the cups.

The next step in his original recipe calls for adding chopped crystallized ginger on top of the peaches but I didn't use it. If you want to include it, now's the time)

Place the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

Then take the wet ingredients you've mixed together in another bowl and add to the dry.

Mix only 10 times! Really..that's what he says! No more than 10 times. The batter will be lumpy but that's okay. The lumps bake out.

Sorry, my peach pix are in the wrong spot. Just thought they looked pretty so I left the photo in!

Spoon the batter over the peaches. As you can see, I did have a few extra slices of peaches I didn't use. I did manage to find something to do with them, however!

Place the ramekins or cups onto a baking sheet and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center to test for doneness.

Then wait 5 minutes, which is the most difficult part of this recipe! Run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake. Then place a plate on top and turn upside down onto plate.

Individual Peach Upside Down Cake, ( adapted from Alton Brown's recipe)


3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and divided

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 medium peaches, peeled (Blanching notes below)

1 oz. finely chopped crystallized ginger ( I left this out)

2.5 ozs. AP flour ( approx. 1/2 cup)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk, room temp.

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Whipped cream or ice cream, for serving, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Place rack in center position in oven.

1. Place 3 tbsp. butter in one of the ramekins and melt in the microwave.

2. Take out 1 tbsp. of the butter and set aside to add to the batter.

3. Evenly divide the remaining butter between the 4 ramekins.

4. Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar into each ramekin.

5. Place the peach slices on top of the sugar of each ramekin.

6. Add the crystallized ginger on top of this, if using.

Make the batter:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk, sugar, 1 tablespoon of melted butter and vanilla.

3. Pour the wet mixture to the dry mixture, stirring only 10 times! Use a rubber spatula for this. The mixture will still appear lumpy, but that's okay as the lumps will bake out.

4.Scoop the batter into the ramekins, over the peaches, dividing evenly.

5. Place them onto a baking sheet and bake 20 to 25 minutes, or til a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Allow them to cool 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn upside down onto a serving plate.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

To Blanch peaches:

Place the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove them and place them immediately in ice water for 30 seconds to stop the cooking process. The skins come off easily but, be careful, they're very slippery!