On Peach Cake

A summer favorite!

Welcome to the Friday post for paid subscribers, one of my favorite summertime desserts. On Tuesday, all subscribers will receive a post about the use of AI in photography—another dive into my day job, which, as always, you can read more about on my website. Thanks for being here!

Okay, people, here’s the thing: I try not to make things difficult. I try to only make you do the things you HAVE to do, like save pasta water to make the best sauces of your life or cook a mean risotto. I don’t think I’ve ever asked you to do anything tragically unnecessary, like truss a turkey or peel carrots or pop peas out of the pod. And I try very hard to be fair because I want you took cook these recipes. Any extra minute you spend in the kitchen with these recipes is a win.

But today, I’m breaking my own rules. For this recipe, you need to get a couple of dishes dirty. And you need to get almond paste (don’t panic! It’s in the baking section!). And you need to use a blender or food processor. But reader, I promise you so hard that if you just stick with me through those dumb things, you’ll be rewarded with a cake so flat-out flavorful and moist and delicate you almost won’t believe it. Though I used a gorgeous hybrid nectarine I found at the farmers’ market to make this particular cake, I’ve also had success with swapping in peaches to make it a peach upside down cake. Any stone fruit works, really, so let’s just call it a stone fruit upside down cake.

A hybrid recipe born of a knock-off Mary Berry almond tea cake and Mammaw’s pineapple upside down cake, this cake has it all.

Upside Down Peach Cake