Saturday treat: Juicy peach upside-down cake

One of our favourite things about South Africa’s summer holiday is the delicious and juicy seasonal fruits that come with making fun sweet and refreshing desserts, such as the peach upside-down cake.

Upside-down cakes become an American phenomenon in the 1920s, particularly the pineapple upside-down cake. This is because canned fruit become widely available across the states, however, Chef Mokgadi Itsweng wants us to take full advantage of fresh fruits rather.

“They are affordable, at the peak of their taste profile and abundantly available,” she says.

It’s a fun take on a cake, but much more moist and of course fruity. Try Chef Mokgadi’s peach upside-down cake this holiday season.

Chef Mokgadi Itsweng’s Peach upside-down cake

Ingredients

• 60g coconut oil
• 150ml dark brown sugar
• 15ml lemon juice
• 6 peaches, halved and pitted
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2½ cups soya milk
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup sunflower oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Peach glaze

• 6 peaches, pitted and halved
• 60ml brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsps water

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Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a cake pan with baking paper.
2. In a saucepan, mix the sugar and lemon juice together over low heat.
3. Add the coconut oil and stir until the mixture dissolves and starts to bubble.
4. Stir until the mixture dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble.
5. Add the peach halves, and cinnamon and stir for 5 minutes over medium heat.
6. Pour the mixture into the cake pan, making sure that the peach halves are arranged with the flat side facing up at the bottom of the pan.
7. In a mixing bowl add the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
8. Mix until well combined, then set aside.
9. In a jug, mix the soya milk, apple cider and lemon juice together.
10. Leave to curdle for 10 minutes at room temperature.
11. Whisk the curdled milk together, before adding the oil and vanilla essence.
12. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk the batter until smooth.
13. Pour the batter over the spiced peaches and bake for 45 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan.
15. While the cake bakes, make the peach glaze by combining the peach halves, brown sugar, cinnamon and water in a saucepan over medium heat.
16. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the peaches are glazed, for about 5 minutes.
17. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and top it with the peach glaze.
18. Serve with whipped coconut cream.

This recipe is courtesy of juicydelicious.com.