As if the rich, sweet walnut and raisin topping wasn’t enough, this Pear and Peach Upside Down Cake is also soft, moist and full of fresh pear and peach slices! It’s fun to make and is as delicious as it is beautiful!
Because of their different preparation method and appearance, upside down cakes are fun to make and eat! A delicious concoction of nuts, raisins, cinnamon, sugar, butter and lemon juice make up the bottom (or top) of this cake.
Next, you’ll add a layer of sliced or chopped fruit and then cover it with a soft, moist, buttery cake batter. Once cooked, place a serving plate or cake stand on top of the pan, flip it upside down and serve it right side up!
For this Pear and Peach Upside Down Cake, I used two pears and one peach. I love the contrast in color and sweetness between these fruits. I placed about two pear slices for every peach slice. This ensured that each slice would end up with bits of each fruit. Feel free to swap the ratio and use more peaches than pears or simply all of one fruit.
I sliced my fruit and arranged the slices side by side in on top of the crumb mixture. You can lay the slices on their sides and overlap them or place them side by side. You can even chop the fruit and either arrange it in a pattern or simply evenly spread it out. Either way the cake will be awesome!
Keep in mind that fruit shrinks when it cooks, so don’t worry about overcrowding or even piling up the fruit a bit. Whichever way you cut or arrange it, aim to cover the pan with at least one layer of fruit.
You can use a regular cake pan, but I love using a spring form pan. The food nerd in me always gets excited and nervous about inverting a pan and the spring form pan lessens the chances of the topping sticking to the pan.
There is butter in the topping, so you don’t need to butter the pan at all. Running a knife around the edges of the pan should be enough to unstick the sides.
One other tip is to place your pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. This is to catch any juice that may bubble up or leak out of your pan.
Enjoy this Upside Down Pear and Peach Cake as you would a coffee cake at breakfast or as a snack or dessert! It’s so good on its own or when served with some fresh whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. Can’t wait for you to make this beautiful and delicious cake!
Upside Down Pear and Peach Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- ½ cup butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup milk
FOR THE TOPPING
- 2 pears peeled and sliced or chopped
- 1 peach peeled and sliced or chopped
- ¾ cup walnuts chopped
- ⅓ cup raisins any type
- ¼ cup sugar brown, white, or a combination of the two
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together the raisins, ⅓ cup sugar (brown and or white), walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. Spread the mixture out evenly on the bottom of your 9 " spring form pan. Drizzle the melted butter and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice evenly over top. Cut the fruit into slices or 1" chunks. Arrange the fruit evenly in the pan. If sliced, slices can be side by side or overlapping. If cut into chunks, fruit can be placed randomly on top of the walnut mixture. Top fruit with another tablespoon of lemon juice.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until slightly lightened and creamy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the dry ingredients and mix together until combined.
- Evenly spoon dollops of the cake batter on top of the prepared fruit mixture. Use a spatula and carefully spread the batter. Set the cake on top of the prepared baking sheet. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
- Once out of the oven, place the pan on a cooling rack for a minute or two. Do not let the cake sit too long or cool too much without removing it from the pan or it will be difficult to get it out of the pan. Run a knife along the edge of the cake. Place a plate over the cake pan and use oven mitts to carefully invert the cake. Release the cake pan and gently take the sides and top of the pan off. The pan and cake will still be hot, so it’s important to remove the pan carefully. Let the cake cool and serve at room temperature. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
D
Just made the cake without vanilla….might want to update your instructions. :/
Natalie
Hi,
I’m sorry about that. I have updated the instructions. Thanks for trying it. Have a great day! -Natalie
Barbara Briggs Ward
Love the ‘Autumn poem’! Beautiful time of the year. Love your presentation! Looks so delicious!