Why Not Both? (Peach and Cherry Upside Down Cornmeal Cake)
Because summer is about ABUNDANCE and not MAKING DECISIONS
I’ve probably already written about how I’m always sad in the summer. I’m reflecting on my future, the mistakes of my past, my dehydration, sunburns. And there’s a particular kind of sadness in the blazing sun that I think is difficult to understand unless you live in LA. It’s like, if you live in a place with weather, you can buy into an almost literary pathetic fallacy, like the universe and you are sad together. But when the sun is beating down on your face, screaming that you should be having a good time, it’s like… would the universe even be able to pick me out of a line up? If someone said to the universe “do you know Katie Barsotti?” she’d be like “never heard of her.”
I would love to do a whole jag about how misunderstood Lorde’s album Solar Power is by people who have never been depressed or anxious on a gorgeous day but I don’t really have time for that and if you get it, you get it. If you didn’t like Solar Power, there’s just a whole part of me that you’ll never fully understand and we have to be okay with that and move on.
The only thing that keeps me going through summer is the abundance, the produce. The stone fruit in particular makes me want to cry with gratitude (okay I guess I’m crying no matter what in the summer). When I say Emma Kula of Kula’s Kitchen doing both a peach upside down cake and a cherry upside down cake I literally commented on her TikTok, “Why not both?”
Because summer is about going a little over-the-top. Like summer at it’s best is the 2010s where all the songs were like “we’re young and we’re going to die but before that happens we’re going to dance and not sleep and drink!” And that’s never been my vibe so it’s more like “we’re youngish and we’re going to die but before that happens we’re going to overschedule and eat cherries and peaches until we’re sick!” So I combined two of Emma’s upside down summer fruit recipes and then made a few tweaks and HERE WE ARE.
Peach and Cherry Upside Down Cornflour Cake
Ingredients
167g butter, browned
50g and 93g brown sugar, divided
2 medium peaches, sliced
10-15 cherries, pitted and halved
3 tsp vanilla, divided
106g white sugar
140g flour
135g cornflour (cornmeal works the same here)
1 tsp baking powder
110g oat milk (or whatever milk you want)
2 eggs
Preheat your oven to 350.
Because this is an upside down cake, start by putting 45g butter into a pan with 50g of brown sugar and a tablespoon of water and heat over medium. Stir until the sugar dissolves and add 1 tsp vanilla (paste or extract) and a pinch of salt. Take it off the heat and set aside.
Take a circular piece of parchment and fit it in the bottom of your 8 or 9 inch cake pan. Doesn’t have to be perfect! Grease with butter or oil and place your slides peaches and cherries cut side down. Try to leave as little space as possible but literally do not stress about it. Be creative! Feel free to use almost any stone fruit here!
Meanwhile, make the cake batter by whisking together 93g brown sugar, 106g white sugar, eggs, and your remaining 102g browned butter (cooled but not solid). In another bowl, mix your flour, cornflour (you can use cornmeal here, it won’t make much of a difference), and baking powder. Then, add half of your dry mix to the wet, mix mix mix, then add half of your oat milk, mix mix mix, then the rest of your dry, mix mix mix, and the rest of the milk. Your batter will be thick and smooth.
Next pour the brown butter caramel onto your cut fruit. On top of that, add your batter. Spread evenly.
Bake 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes and then use a butter knife to loosen the sides from the cake pan. Quickly and carefully flip the cake onto a plate and then remove the parchment paper from the top.
For fun, serve with whipped cream or even a vanilla ice cream but also…. I had this for breakfast with a dollop of greek yogurt. To quote philosopher Katie Gavin, sometimes we do our best and sometimes we do what gets us out of bed.
I made this a literal month ago, so truly sorry if cherries are no longer in season where you are. That’s on me. I was busy trying to remind my self to drink water and playing Solar Power on heavy rotation.
xxoo