Smoked Peach Upside-Down Cake
his Smoked Peach Upside-Down Cake is a reimagined version of the pineapple upside-down cake recipe from my cookbook, Easy BBQ: Simple, Flavorful Recipes for Home Grilling. For this version, I traded the pineapple for one of Colorado’s best seasonal ingredients: Palisade peaches.
When Palisade peaches are ripe, they are sweet, juicy, and packed with enough peach flavor to carry an entire dessert. The fruit softens into the butter and brown sugar, creating a rich caramelized topping that runs down into the cake after it is turned out of the skillet. Cast iron helps develop deeper caramel notes around the edges, while cherry or apple wood adds a light fruitwood smoke that complements the peaches.
This adaptation has become a family favorite. It keeps everything people love about a traditional upside-down cake while giving it a distinctly Colorado barbecue character. The finished cake is moist and buttery, with diced peaches baked into the cake and tender peach wedges covering the top. It is the kind of dessert that shows exactly what a pellet smoker can do beyond the usual lineup of barbecue.
Palisade Peach Upside-Down Cake
Glenn Connaughton
12
20 minutes
50 minutes
360
American
Dessert
A good upside-down cake should release cleanly from the skillet with a glossy layer of tender fruit and caramelized brown sugar covering the top. The cake underneath needs enough structure to hold that topping without becoming heavy or soggy. That is the target with this peach version.
The topping is built in the traditional upside-down cake order so the peaches cook directly against the butter and brown sugar. As the skillet heats, the sugar dissolves into the butter and mixes with the juices released by the peaches. That creates the caramelized coating that becomes the top of the cake after it is inverted.
Diced peach folded into the batter carries that fresh fruit flavor beyond the topping. The peach juice adds more moisture and reinforces the flavor without changing the familiar texture of yellow cake.
One important thing to know before you begin is that there will be extra batter when using a cast-iron skillet. This applies to both the common 10-inch skillet and the larger 12-inch skillet used for this recipe, although a 10-inch skillet will leave you with more batter. Do not try to force all of it into the skillet or overfill the pan. The extra batter can be baked separately in a smaller pan. If you prefer to use all the batter in one cake, prepare the recipe in a 9 x 13-inch pan and allow an additional 10 to 15 minutes of cooking time.
Ingredients
blank
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 large peaches, cut into wedges
blank
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 box (15.25 ounces) moist yellow cake mix
3/4 cup Simply Peach Juice (or equivalent)
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 large peach, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
Directions
- Preheat the Smoker: Preheat the pellet smoker to 350°F using cherry or apple wood pellets.
- Prepare the Peaches: Cut the 3 peaches in half and remove the pits. Set aside 1 peach half and dice it into 1/4-inch pieces. Cut each of the remaining 5 peach halves into 6 equal wedges, making 30 peach wedges for the topping.
- Choose the Skillet: Prepare the cake in either a 10-inch or 12-inch cast-iron skillet. We used a 12-inch skillet, but the same preparation method applies to both sizes.
- Add the Butter: Pour the melted butter into the cast-iron skillet. Tilt the skillet as needed to coat the entire bottom.
- Add the Brown Sugar: Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter.
- Arrange the Peaches: Arrange the peach wedges in a circular pattern over the brown sugar, slightly overlapping the wedges as needed to cover the bottom of the skillet.
- Cream the Butter: Place the softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy.
- Add the Cake Mix: Add the yellow cake mix and beat for approximately 30 seconds, until the butter is evenly incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Mix the Batter: Add the Simply Peach Juice, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the batter is smooth and fully combined.
- Fold in the Peach: Gently fold the diced peach into the cake batter until evenly distributed.
- Fill the Skillet: Carefully pour enough batter over the arranged peach wedges to cover them evenly while leaving room for the cake to rise. Do not try to fit all the batter into the skillet. The amount left over will depend on whether you use a 10-inch or 12-inch skillet. Set the remaining batter aside for another use.
- Cook the Cake: Place the skillet in the center of the pellet smoker. Close the lid and cook for 25 minutes.
- Rotate and Finish: Rotate the skillet 180 degrees and continue cooking for another 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a butter knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Loosen the Cake: Remove the skillet from the smoker and immediately run a thin knife around the inside edge. Allow the cake to rest in the skillet for 15 minutes.
- Invert the Cake: Place a large serving platter or cutting board upside down over the skillet. Hold the platter and skillet firmly together and carefully turn them over in one smooth motion. Slowly lift the skillet straight up. If any peach wedges stick to the skillet, carefully return them to the top of the cake.
- Cool and Serve: Allow the cake to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.
