Upside-Down Nectarine Cake is very delicious, soft and easy to make. It is so upsetting to buy fruits that smell great but taste like paper. Even if you go organic, there is never a guarantee that fruits you buy will beat the “sweet” standards. At times like these, I often recall our local bazaars back home, where we could try the fruit before buying it.
Nevertheless, it is always great to know that I am able to utilize fruits and vegetables, even if they are not perfect for raw consumption. I thank my mom for opening my eyes up for cooking and baking, teaching me that no ingredients should go to waste.
So, my husband bought these fine looking (back then) nectarines, with a compelling smell. Alas, they didn’t taste as good as they smelled! I decided to look for a recipe to use them up with the available ingredients. Upside-Down Nectarine Cake was found and adopted.
Before I jump into the recipe, I want to thank the love of my life for being such a wonderful person and an amazing husband! He always knows what I need and is always in tune with my thoughts. He always notices my sparkly glance towards what might ease my job around the house. So, for my birthday, he got a long-wanted Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I was over-the-top happy when he unwrapped it at 12:01AM on my birthday and I am thrilled that he gave it a deep thought and timed everything perfectly. I love you very, very much!!!
Although from now on, I will most likely use this fine machine for many of the recipes, I will keep on including directions for standard hand-held mixers, too.
Ingredients for the caramel:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 oz. ( approx. 50 gr) melter butter
- 5-6 nectarines or 8-10 medium apricots
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Ingredients for the Cake bun:
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 2 oz. melted butter
Directions:
Slice the fruit of your choice in moon-like shapes, add lemon juice and toss once or twice. Set aside until needed.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan combine water with sugar, bring to boil, stirring with a spoon until sugar dissolves. Leave the mixture to simmer without stirring or disturbing for about 5-8 minutes, until syrup turns amber color. Then remove from heat and add melted butter. At first, the butter will bubble up, then the whole mass will become like a thick caramel. You should be very careful during this process. DO NOT keep stirring the caramel, it will turn rock-hard on you. As soon as you add the butter, give it one stir and transfer the caramel into a designated, well-buttered 8″ baking dish or a springform pan. I chose a bunt cake mold to give myself a variety.
Once that is done, quickly (very quickly) place the fruit on top of the caramel evenly. Set aside until the dough is ready.
PRE-HEAT THE OVEN AT 350F. Whip eggs with sugar and vanilla into thick mass (beat about 10 minutes at high speed). Sift flour with baking powder, salt and carefully add to the egg mass and slowly mix everything together.
Add a few spoonfuls of the dough in a small bowl with melted butter and mix thoroughly. Mix it in with the dough and carefully combine with a spatula or a big spoon. Do not use mixer for this process as the butter is heavy and will make the dough very flat by beating the air out.
Pour the dough evenly on top of the nectarines. Place it in the pre-heated oven for about 35 minutes or until golden/golden brown. Check with a toothpick for readiness before taking it out of the oven.
Once the time is up, let the cake cool before removing it from the baking dish. If you used the bunt dish like me, you can remove it right away. But if you used a spring form pan, let it cool for about 20 minutes, slide the knife around the edges of the cake, and slowly remove the bottom piece.
Bon Appetit!
Hi Lola,
Happy Birthday (belatedly)! Wishing you health, happiness, and success.
Even after 20+ years here, I still miss the fruits from Tashkent’s bazaars. I find it very difficult to find decent tomatoes, watermelons, melons, and strawberries here, at least with any consistency. Your cake looks delicious and it’s going on my list of things to try making. :)
Thank you very much, Anna! How are you doing?
Tell me about our bazaars. I miss them all the time, too.
I too LOVE my mixer… it makes everything so much easier! great recipe and love your blog!
why yes :) Isn’t it amazing? :)
I’d love if I were lucky winner of those marvelous lenses.
if you enter the giveaway, I am sure you have a chance, Selma :)
happy birthday and many happy returns! KA stand mixer is a wonderful and thoughtful gift, hope you’ll enjoy it for many years to come!
the nectarine tatin cake looks awesome and color pink is so beautiful :)
Thank you very much Shahnozochka!!! Yes, I still need to send the rebate in :)
I hope you like the cake!
by the way, if Nasim purchased the mixer between July 11 and August 21, you’re eligible to receive $50 cash back. Check out this link: http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/pdfs/6_Qt_50_Cash_Back_7_11_10.pdf
Isn’t it icing on the cake;)
Looks very very yummy. I wish I can try it and get the perfect taste,, Thanks for sharing, I love the photos too.
Thank you, Julie :D
Hi Lola! I wanted to thank you for this particular dessert which is really good! I never tried nectarine in cakes before and I think it is so much better than standard apples or apricots. I’ve made it twice already and it was always perfect and tender (and I am a bad cook!). Anyway, your website was recommended to me by my husband who is Uzbek and from now I will keep looking for other good recipes of yours (including ones from Uzbek cuisine). Keep up good work and your photos are just amazing! I hope you can publish them one day!
Dearest Aya,
Thank you very much for trusting my recipes and cooking them for your husband! That’s a big achievement for me :D and a great workout for you in the kitchen :D Please come on it often and extend my regards to your family!
Hi Lola,
Today I made this upside-down cake and I must tell you that we liked it very much.
I have made this recipe before with apples and nuts or pineapple or preserved peaches but this is the first time
I made it with fresh nectarines. It was much lighter and very very tasty.
(Once more, Lola, your recipe is better than mine. Even your red Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer looks better than my
metallic Kenwood).
LoL, oh how I missed you Stella! Sorry for not being in touch for such a long time! I have my hands sooo full. I really need to go back to kitchen and start making something delicious! Please do not abandon me :) I miss you a lot!
Today I made again your cake recipe but with seedless white grapes instead of nectarines which are out of season now.
It is perfect. You must try it with grapes, Lola. I am sure you will also like it.
P.S.Where are you? We miss you.
Oh, what a splendid idea! I might as well do it today. Denver market is treating us with some nice grapes this season!!!
Hi Lola, I came across your site and I’m loving it. Thank you so much for doing this. Since nectarines aren’t in season do you think frozen peaches would taste good? Any other suggestions what fruit might taste good?
Oh Lola, your recipes are just too good. you make sure you mention every detail. this cake turned out just perfect but i used golden delicious apples instead of nectarines.
Thankyou very much and i was wondering if you have a recipe foe Red velvet cake. i really wanna try it with your recipe!
My wife gave me the identical stand mixer for my eightieth birthday – red is such a perfect colour (unless you are a democrat!) Don’t know how I managed without it for so long. I’ve made the upside-down nectarine cake 3 times now, which I think demonstrates how well its been accepted by one and all. Last time I just halved the nectarines and stuck them skin-side down into the caramel sauce. Next time I will use mango slices for a change. They are in season and plentiful down here in Oz at the moment and I think they will make a nice alternative to the nectarines. Might add some more lemon juice to counter the extra sweetness of the mangos. Stay safe in these difficult times. Richard