If you're subscribed to our store newsletter, you'll know we are huge fans of Melbourne-based cook Julia Busuttil-Nishimura and often share one or two of her recipes. We also stock and sell her best-selling cook books, including her latest - Good Cooking Every Day, which is of course, fabulous.
I've already made Julia's Apricot + Berry Galette twice in the space of a week, so when this recipe for an Upside Down Burnt Butter + Peach Cake popped into my inbox, via The Design Files, I couldn't wait to try it.
Baking here at the bach is often a rudimentary affair - one bowl, the oldest beater in the land, a cake tin that doesn't seal properly, and until last week, baking powder that expired in 2018. However, it must be something of a miracle, but usually everything seems to taste especially delicious despite the humble beginnings. A large spoonful of whipped cream doesn't go astray either!
My brother arrived for a visit while I was mid-way through making this cake. I resumed the baking/making after two hours, and it still looked good when it came out of the oven.
Then we were invited to an impromptu dinner party at one of our neighbouring baches, and I must admit, I was both nervous and pleased that I had this cake up my sleeve for dessert. A little something I had prepared earlier! Hah!
The original recipe calls for peaches, but really you can use any stone fruit. Also, Julia uses a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, and I used the oldest mixer in the land, no stand, no paddle. I also didn't have self-raising flour, but luckily had purchased new baking powder with an expiry date in the future not the distant past, so added one teaspoon of baking powder to the plain flour I used.
Any imperfections were disguised with whipped cream.
Upside Down Burnt Butter + Peach Cake
(Recipe written by Julia Busuttil-Nishimura)
(Serves 8)
80g caster sugar
45g unsalted butter, cold
750g yellow peaches, cut into wedges
Brown butter cake
200g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g full fat sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g self raising flour
½ tsp sea salt
crème fraîche, to serve
Method:
For the brown butter cake, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and continue to cook until nut brown. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool and solidify.
Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a round 23cm baking tin.
In a small saucepan, place the sugar with 1 tbsp of water. Set over a medium flame and cook until it reaches a deep amber colour, swirling the pan as needed. Add the cold butter and swirl to incorporate. Pour onto the base of the cake tin and arrange the peaches on top, in a circular fashion. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, place the now solidified brown butter with the sugar and beat on a medium speed for 6-8 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Add in the sour cream and vanilla and continue to mix until combined. With the mixer on low, add the flour and salt and mix until just combined.
Spoon the batter over the peaches and spread using the back of a spoon to smooth. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when touched.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes in the tin, then invert onto a serving plate. Serve with crème fraîche.
(Recipe Julia Busuttil-Nishimura, Styling & Photography Amanda Holland)
