“Upside Down Olive Oil Peach Cake”(Gluten Free)

This past week has been busy in a fun way. Photo shoots both editorial and commercial, celebrations of a new cookbook release that I worked on, and a weekend full of the World Cup and a lazy baking Saturday. The other fun thing for me is that as of today I am adding a “printable recipe” at the end of all my posts! This will make it easier for you to try out some of the offerings from Food on Fifth.

I do think I have a case of “peach madness” this summer. I blame this totally on the arrival of “The Peach Truck” in Nashville from Georgia with bags and bags full of delicious peaches. I eat them rinsed, fuzz and all, on cereal, on toast. I have made frozen yogurt, pies  and more recently this upside down cake using peaches and olive oil along with a  flour I ran across in the grocery store a few days ago…Domata Gluten Free Recipe Ready Flour.

I realize that everyone knows about Georgia Peaches, but are you aware there is a thriving olive oil business down in Lakeland, Georgia…acres and acres of olive trees? I didn’t until I was given a bottle by cookbook author, Matt Moore, while working on a photo shoot with him. Amazingly good and perfect for my cake. A belated thanks Matt.

Whether testing recipes for clients or cooking at home I always gather and measure all my ingredients before I start just to make sure I have everything I need. I find it very annoying to get to the middle of a recipe and realize I am short an egg or do not have enough milk. Very annoying.

I used a fluted pan just because I think it is pretty.

I let this cake cool for about 30 minutes before turning it out onto a plate.

Flipped out onto a plate & ready for a powder sugar dusting. Love the color of those peaches!

So pretty and moist, with an almost pudding-like texture and nice crispy edges. Not too sweet (you know I do not like overly sweet desserts) with the flavor of the peaches coming through strong.

Why an olive oil cake? Olive Oil in a cake never “sets up” again as does butter or solid veg shortening after the dessert cools, therefore the cake is much more moist and stays that way. I made a pound cake using olive oil & Blood Oranges and it was fantastic. For a more lucid and exact explanation as to why cakes made with olive oil are more tender check out this article by Fine Cooking.

Of course we ate a slice while the cake was still warm on Saturday, but the next day, chilled,  it was still as good…in fact so good that my friend Terry M. ate 2 pieces while we worked the Sunday NYTimes Crossword puzzle! Yep, that good.