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Italian: Crostata Invertita




Source of Recipe


Gretchen


Recipe Introduction


Italian Upside-down Cake...A beautiful Italian dessert for a summer meal when peaches are at their finest. The recipe may look long and intimidating, but it's simple...and looks impressive to boot


List of Ingredients




Fruit Layer
4 c. peaches, diced (about 5 medium peaches)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar

Pan
3 Tbsp. butter (softened)
2 Tbsp. sugar

Cake Layer
1 3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. butter (softened)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. milk


Recipe



Prepare the Fruit
Dice peaches. Cut once around along the "seam" of the peach and twist each half opposite-wise. With any luck, one half will let go of the pit and you can dice as you would anything else. If you come across a stubborn peach, cut the whole peach into segments lengthwise, as if you were drawing longitude lines on the peach. Then start cutting around the peach horizontally. You should be able to pop off the bites of peach.

Place the peaches in a medium bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Toss to coat all the pieces with the lemon juice. (The lemon juice keeps the peaches from turning brown - which while it doesn't harm the flavor at all, does make it a bit less impressive.) Add 1/2 c. sugar and stir to coat all the peaches. Place covered in the refrigerator 2 hours (or overnight if need be).

After the peaches have set a spell, place a colander over a small bowl. Drain the peaches and reserve the liquid. (You can use the liquid to create a lovely syrup for topping the cake at serving...although it's lovely without as well.)

Prepare the Pan
Take 3 Tbsp. of quite soft butter and rub the sides and bottom of a 10-inch glass pie plate. (Using a glass pie plate allows you to keep a bit of an eye on the cooking fruit inside. Neato!) The butter will create a quite thick and gloppy layer. Across the bottom of the pie plate, sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of sugar.

Prepare the Cake
Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a mixer (or in a large bowl), beat together 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter with 1 c. sugar. Add eggs. Add vanilla, beating until well combined.

Alternating between milk and flour mixture, add to batter, beating until smooth and creamy.

Ready, Steady...
The peaches are ready, the batter is waiting.

Layer the drained peaches in the bottom of the prepared pie plate.
Spread the batter on top of the peaches in a smooth layer.

Bake at 375°F for 45-50 min., until a tester inserted in the middle of the cake layer comes out clean. Be sure to place a baking sheet underneath the cake while baking to catch any run-over as the cooking fruit bubbles up.

Let cool on a rack about an hour. The cake should be slightly warm when you flip it. When you're ready, run a sharp knife around the edges of the pie plate to loosen any baked on crusty sugar. Place the serving plate on top of the pie plate like a lid and flip it over. If all goes according to plan, the cake will obediently flop down onto the waiting serving plate. If not, give it a wiggle, or poke a thin spatula (a thin metal pancake turner?) in to convince it.

If you fancy it, cook down the nectar from the peaches to a syrup and drizzle over the individual slices for serving.