Peach Upside-Down Cake

     Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits, but besides peach cobbler, I don't know of very many dessert recipes for them. Apparently there was a National Peach Ice Cream Day about a month ago, but I missed it, so maybe I'll celebrate that one next year. When I discovered that peach upside-down cake was a real thing, I was very excited. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever eaten a piece of pineapple upside-down cake, let alone baked one. Maybe I'll try it someday, but for now, all I can say is pineapple, shimeapple! Sliced peaches work perfectly for this cake, giving it a caramely sweetness you'd expect.

INGREDIENTS:
3 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 sticks of softened butter, divided
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350, butter and flour the sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. Use your arts and crafts skills to cut out a circle of parchment paper to cover the bottom of the pan. That part is really important!
2. Peel, pit, and slice the peaches relatively thinly. If they're suer ripe, you can peel them with your hands. If they're not quite ripe yet, a potato peeler should work and the baking process will get them soft and sweet.
3. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in the microwave, pour it into the bottom of the pan over the parchment paper. Then, sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over it.

4. Arrange the peach slices flat in circles in the bottom of the pan.

5. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining stick of butter with the granulated sugar until fluffy. Then add the vanilla and egg.

6. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients, run the mixer until that's incorporated, add the milk, then add the other half of the dry ingredients. Continue to mix until smooth.

7. Pour the cake batter over the peaches in the pan and do your best to spread it out as evenly as possible. There's not a lot of batter there, but it's certainly the right amount for this type of cake.

8. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. It won't look very exciting at this point, but you just wait!

9. Then take it out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes, run a butter knife around the edges, then center a large serving plate on top of the pan and carefully flip it upside-down. When it lands, peel off the parchment paper and admire it's beauty for a second before slicing it up!

Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for a delicious dinner!