Peach Gingerbread Molasses Upside Down Cake Recipe
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Gingerbread and peaches are a timeless combination. I was probably first exposed to it in the form of warmed canned peaches spooned over kit gingerbread from a box, perhaps with vanilla ice cream. This cake brings the peaches together with the home-made gingerbread cake, and adds a lovely brown sugar glaze which is a perfect place to put some booze if you are so inclined.
This gingerbread recipe rises a lot while it cooks and then compresses somewhat over the next couple of days. The cake is noticeably heavier the next day, so it’s best with whipped cream (ideally hand-whipped, with bourbon) the day it’s made, or with ice cream the next day.
The choice of whether to peel the peaches is ultimately yours: removing the peel makes the cake much easier to cut gracefully; however, a lot of the peach’s flavor is in the peel, and it often has a beautiful red color. To make the cake fancier, cover the top of cake batter once poured into the pan with chopped pecans to form a sort of crunchy “crust” to the final cake. If you enjoy the combination of peaches and bourbon, which is also classic and compatible with molasses, consider adding 1-2 Tbsp of bourbon to the glaze.
Makes one ring cake or 9” round “upside-down” cake; serves 8-12.
Equipment:
• a large mixing bowl
• a large glass measuring cup, or microwave-safe, non-plastic mixing bowl
• one 9” round cake pan, or ring-cake (Bundt) pan
• stand mixer (highly recommended)
• cooling rack
Ingredients:
2-5 ea peaches eating peaches such as Red Haven, optionally peeled; sliced
Glaze:
1/3 c butter
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Cake:
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup boiling water
Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup butter softened
2/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 ea egg
2 Tbsp fresh ginger grated
Dry ingredients:
1 2/3 cup AP flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tsp powdered dry ginger
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In the stand mixer, set up the butter, molasses and brown sugar for the wet part of the cake mixture to cream together. Depending on the condition of the molasses and the softness of the butter, this can take quite a long time to complete, so it might as well run while doing other tasks.
3. Grease the baking pan with butter and set aside.
4. Melt the butter and sugar for the glaze together in the microwave for about 30 seconds at full power. There is no need for it to bubble; the butter simply needs to liquefy in order to make a glaze with the butter.
5. Beat the glaze ingredients until they emulsify into a sauce. Add the cinnamon and optional bourbon or (spiced) rum, or other aromatic liquor of your choice.
6. Pour the glaze as evenly as possible into the prepared baking pan.
7. Remember to occasionally scrape the butter-molasses mixture as it creams in the stand mixer.
8. Line the baking pan with slices of peach, filling it in as closely as you like.
9. Boil some water, measure 2/3 of a cup and mix in 1 1/4 tsp of baking soda into it. Make sure to use soda.
10. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and powdered dry ginger. Mix well.
11. Once the butter-molasses mixture has creamed together thoroughly, add all the dry ingredients as well as the hot water/soda mixture, and blend together. From now until the cake goes into the oven, work quickly and with focus to avoid wasting the leavening potential of the soda.
12. Start by pulsing the mixture to avoid puffing flour all over the kitchen.
13. Don’t overmix; stop and scrape the bottom almost immediately, and allow it to mix only until just combined.
14. Immediately pour the cake batter over the peaches, top with any optional pecans, and then place into the center of the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes.
15. Use a toothpick or skewer test to make sure the cake is done, then rest on a rack for 5-10 minutes.
16. The cake will pull away from the edges of the pan and show that it’s ready to be turned out onto a rack to finish cooling. Make sure to do it over a tray to catch any extra glaze which runs off.
17. Enjoy with something creamy, and maybe some coffee.
Music:
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Expert: David Postada
Bio: David Postada is Chef and owner of the Big Easy Catering company in Santa Barbara, California.
Filmmaker: Diana Bacon