This recipe for gluten-free Peach Upside Down Cake comes from my friend Steve Zeiden. Some of you might remember Steve from his previous sites, Gluten-Free Steve and Grateful Celiac. Clearly, he’s still making delicious gluten-free treats!
By the way, I shared another recipe of Steve’s (with one simple substitution) earlier here on gfe—Gluten-Free Lemon Sponge Cake. It, too, is a terrific recipe. There’s no flour needed for this cake—a fact which I love. (The cake is made using either potato starch or cornstarch.)
Now for that Peach Upside Down Cake. Steve saw a recipe in Real Simple that looked quite good, so he converted it to gluten free. That was a pretty simple task really. He made his cake in the morning and left it on the counter—without sampling it!—when he went to work, because he planned to serve it for dessert to guests that evening.
Can you imagine thinking about this cake all day and having to wait to try it? Oh, the anticipation! Steve sent me a photo of it that morning right after he made it. So I was anxiously awaiting the verdict. He made me wait until the next morning for his three-word review: “It was wonderful!” That’s all we need to know, right?
Thanks to Steve for sharing his gluten-free Peach Upside Down Cake recipe with us! I’ve added a few notes on how I’d make this recipe. It’s gluten free and vegetarian and easily made dairy free, as noted. I am pretty sure that making it refined sugar free would be easy as well. Last, I’m anxious to try a grain-free version, too.
Sometimes I prefer the look of a round cake so I gave this recipe a try using a 9-inch round pan. Worked perfectly! Perhaps my edges are a little over caramelized but I loved them that way and my mother—who was the recipient of this cake—wholeheartedly approved as well!
If you look at my cake closely, you’ll see some cracks on top. That’s exactly what happens if you rush the cooling process and invert your cake onto a plate that is concave versus flat. If you want a perfect presentation, don’t do that. As my Mom said, the cracking on the surface let you know that it was a homemade cake and the taste was not the least bit affected. Thanks, Mom! And of course, she’s not wrong.
More Gluten-Free Peach Recipes You’ll Absolutely Want To Make
~ Crustless Peach Pie from gfe
~ Easy Peach Cobbler (just four main ingredients) from gfe
~ Eat A Peach: Over 60 Juicy Gluten-Free Peach Dessert Recipes featured on gfe
~ Peach Salsa from In Johnna’s Kitchen
~ Peach Sorbet from gfe
Gluten-Free Peach Upside Down Cake Recipe
Gluten-Free Peach Upside Down Cake
A good Upside Down Cake is a thing of beauty. Beautiful and juicy peaches make this gluten-free Peach Upside Down Cake both gorgeous and delicious.
Ingredients
- About 2 tbsp unsalted butter (or non-dairy butter equivalent)
- 2 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour mix (Steve recommends a lighter gluten-free flour mix]; see notes. My [Two-Ingredient Gluten-Free Flour Mix also works well in this recipe.)
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt (I use this salt)
- 3/4 cup buttermilk (see notes for substitutions, including dairy-free option)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature, slightly beaten
- 1/3 cup canola oil] (or oil of choice, I'd use [this oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract] (I'd use [my homemade version)
Instructions
- Using butter, grease an 8 x 8 square cake pan or 9-inch round cake pan thoroughly (bottom and sides).
- Sprinkle brown sugar on the bottom of the pan and top with the peach slices.
- In a large bowl, combine gluten-free flour mix, xanthan gum, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract to your dry mixture. Whisk until combined.
- Pour the cake batter over the peaches and brown sugar base.
- Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. To loosen the cake, run a knife along the edges of the pan. Turn cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Steve used one variation of Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Flour Blend as his gluten-free flour mix in this recipe. He mixes the following: 1 cup white rice flour, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 cup tapioca starch, and 1 cup potato FLOUR (NOT potato starch). He keeps this mix on hand and measures out whatever amount he needs at the time. I use my Two-Ingredient Gluten-Free Flour Mix, which works great.
I actually never use buttermilk. I make sour milk and use that instead. For ¾ cup sour milk, add 2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice to a glass measuring cup. Add milk of choice (dairy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, etc.) filling until you reach ¾ cup line. Stir mixture and let sit 5 minutes before using.
Steve adapted his cake recipe from a gluten-full recipe in Real Simple magazine.
Originally published August 3, 2014; updated July 9, 2023.
Heather says
Adding this to the list! It sounds amaaaazing!
Shirley says
Hey Heather–I know you will give me your review when you make it! Looking forward to that! 🙂
Thanks, dear.
Shirley
Megan | Allergy Free Alaska says
I love peaches so much – this sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Steve & Shirley 😉
Shirley says
Megan–So many LOVE peaches that I knew this recipe would be a hit! 😉 I want to try this recipe using almond flour (with perhaps a wee bit of coconut flour added). My gut tells me it will work. My gut also tells me that it would be delicious. Hehe!
Shirley
Phyllis says
Wow this looks spectacular! I cannot wait to try this recipe! I am a huge fan of peaches.
Best,
Phyllis
Shirley says
Hi Phyllis–Great to see you here at gfe again and I appreciate all the terrific recipes you’ve been sharing on Gluten-Free Wednesdays! 🙂 Thanks, too, for the lovely comment on this recipe. I hope you love it!
Shirley
Nancy says
Yum! This looks wonderful!
Shirley says
Hi Nancy–Thanks! 🙂 Thanks, too, for all your contributions to Gluten-Free Wednesdays lately! I love your travel-inspired recipes. 😉
Shirley
Julia says
Wow! This looks fantastic!
Miz Helen says
Hi Shirley,
We have had some delicious peaches this season and this would be a perfect cake for us to try, it looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great day!
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Michelle @ My Gluten-free Kitchen.com says
We’ll soon be harvesting buckets of peaches from our backyard trees, so I’m always searching for more peach recipes. Can’t wait to try this one! Shared it on my page just now too.
Melissa says
I made this today using cup for cup flour. I followed the rest of the directions exactly. The cake had a very nice fluffy consistency. I will definitely be making this again! I might try it with apple slices next time.
Shirley says
Hi Melissa–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 Thanks so much for letting us all know about your success with this recipe! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. I hope your apple version is equally successful. 😉
Shirley
Nancy says
Do you think an egg sub would work, like flax egg? I’m very allergic to eggs.
Shirley says
Hi Nancy–I *think* flax gel eggs would work just fine in this recipe. Please let us know if you give them a try. 🙂
Fingers crossed,
Shirley
Angela says
Wow! It looks stunning and I can already taste it! Knowing me, I just might try a version using your absolutely amazing pound cake recipe, lol!!! I am convinced both would be delicious, and if anyone ever were to complain (nobody ever does) I would offer to “get rid of the evidence” 🙂
Shirley says
Darn the luck on nobody ever complaining, right, Angela? 😉 I will be interested to hear what version you do try, of course. Enjoy, dear!! 🙂
xo,
Shirley
Ellen says
I made this recipe exactly as posted and it was EXCELLENT. Defintie keeper.
Shirley Braden says
Hi Ellen–Sorry I’m late in replying. Thanks so much for the excellent review! And now I have to ask, you have fresh peaches where you live in February?
Thanks,
Shirley
Lynn says
Do you think I could double this recipe and freeze one?
Shirley Braden says
Hi Lynn–It looks like you’re new here. Welcome to gfe! 🙂 Doubling the recipe to make two cakes should be no problem. And in general, you can freeze upside down cakes and peach cakes. I have not yet tried that with this recipe but it should work. I’d thaw the frozen cake overnight in the fridge. Enjoy!
Shirley