Sweet, caramel-y peaches and a soft vanilla cake base star in this summery peach upside down cake that’s easy to make and always an impressive dessert!
All of summer’s best piled into one glorious upside-down cake! Yep, I’m talking about peaches when I say summer’s best because really, does it get any more summery than this??
We’ve got a moist vanilla cake base followed by an upside-down topping of brown sugar caramelized peaches, and you know you’ve gotta enjoy this beaut with a big scoop of whipped cream on top.
Pineapple upside-down cake who??
The real winning factor behind this cake is that it LOOKS like you spent hours on it, but no one has to know that you were able to pull this beauty together in less than an hour.
Yep, I’m so serious when I say this is your cake of the summer.
This Upside-Down Cake features…
- A juicy brown sugar caramel peach topping
- Soft vanilla cake base
- Minutes to make and so good warm with homemade whipped cream
Making the Upside-Down Cake
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Peaches
- Granulated sugar
- Honey
- Greek yogurt
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Kosher salt
- Cinnamon
- 2% or skim milk
Choosing Your Peaches
You will need about 3 medium peaches for this cake. Choose peaches that are ripe and soft to the touch, but not so soft that they’re mushy when you slice them.
To prep the peaches for this cake, peel the skin, remove the pit, and cut into thin slices.
Tips for Perfect Upside-Down Cake
- Cut peaches into uniform slices – you want all the slices the same thickness so the peaches cook evenly.
- Cream butter, sugar, and honey together – make sure your butter is softened to room-temperature and cream well with the sugar and honey several minutes until completely smooth.
- Bring yogurt, eggs, and milk to room temperature – this will help these ingredients mix more cohesively into the butter-sugar mixture.
- Spoon and level flour – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
- Use a toothpick to test cake for doneness – be careful not to push the toothpick into the peach portion of the cake.
- Invert cake after 20 minutes of cooling – this 20 minutes gives the cake time to set up a bit and the caramel sauce will be the perfect temperature to cascade down on the peaches after inverting.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different twist on this cake.
- Use a different stone fruit – try plums, nectarines, or apricots in place of the peaches.
- Add citrus flavor – fold 1 tablespoon grated orange or lemon zest into cake batter.
- Serve with ice cream – for a next-level dessert, pair a slice of this cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Serving Suggestions
I recommend serving this cake warm if possible with a big scoop of homemade whipped cream! If you plan to store cake, I recommend storing in refrigerator no more than 4 days and reheat individual slices in microwave 15-30 seconds before serving.
Every bite of this upside-down cake is like taking a bite of summer! The peaches are perfectly juicy and every inch is coated in that buttery brown sugar caramel sauce while the vanilla cake soaks up all the peach juices.
Certainly no judgement on my end if you accidentally end up consuming half this cake solo.
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
More summer cakes to bake up next!
Peach Upside Down Cake
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Ingredients
Peach Topping
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3 medium ripe peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
Cake Batter
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup 2% or skim milk, room temperature
- Whipped cream for serving, optional
Instructions
Peach Topping
- Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9-inch cake pan.
- Pour melted butter in the bottom of cake pan and tilt pan to evenly coat bottom. Sprinkle brown sugar over butter and arrange peach slices in a fan on top. Set aside.
Cake Batter
- Place butter, sugar, and honey in a large bowl and beat well until smooth and creamy. Beat in yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fold into butter mixture, interchangeably with milk, until batter is smooth.
- Scrape batter over peaches into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake cake at 350F 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in cake portion comes out clean and center of cake is firm to the touch.
- Allow cake to cool in pan on a wire cooling rack 20 minutes, then carefully run a butter knife around edges and invert onto a serving plate. Slice cake and serve warm with whipped cream if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was updated with new recipe tips and photos on 7/19/24.
MacKenzi says
Hi Sarah, if I substitute the white whole wheat flour for regular white flour (the unhealthy option 🙂 ) would I use the same amount?
Thanks!
Sarah says
Hey MacKenzie! You may have to use a little additional flour. Just make sure the batter is slightly thick and smooth.
Kathy McHugh says
Can you use frozen peaches for this recipe?
Sarah says
Yes, you sure can! Just make sure they’re thawed.
Robin Walton says
Can you use canned peaches? If so, do i need to make sure the juice is totally drained off or not?
Sarah says
Yes, you can use canned peaches, but make sure that they are completely drained. Good luck, Robin!
classyflavors says
I love peaches and i love coffee. Cake perfect for me:-)
Elana says
This came out really good, thanks a lot Terry 🙂 It’s a keeper.
Ray Beynon says
Can I just halve the ingredients to make one cake instead of two? I am feeding a family, not a flock
Sarah says
Yes, that would be fine! 🙂
Carol says
Have a few peaches left & want to make this recipe. One question though, could I use plain GREEK yogurt, it is what I have? Thank you!
Sarah says
Yes, plain greek yogurt would work fine!
Barbara Shore says
Thought it would be too much so I cut the recipe in half but added more peaches. Also used a bit of sour cream as I had no yogurt. It’s quite nice…not too sweet at all. However, I would definitely go for the whole recipe next time. Highly recommend.
Joann says
Looks great and easy to make. However, I am watching my sugar intake and need the calories amount for a spice. Please send to me via my email.
jojofowler19@yahoo.com
Elaine says
Your directions say add honey with butter and sugar. I didn’t see honey in the list of ingredients.
Sarah says
Sorry about that, Elaine! I’ve updated the recipe to include the honey.