John Torode's peach upside down cake

Monday 11 March at 5:49pm

It’s a weekend favourite in the Torode household and a recipe he learnt from his grandmother - John’s back in the kitchen with his peach upside down cake. Enjoy this treat as a pudding, served with John's homemade custard, on a Sunday - or as a cake during the week.

Peach upside down cake

Ingredients

5 - 6 peaches, cut in half and stones removed

200g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthways and the seeds scraped out

200g plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

200g butter

200g caster sugar

4 eggs

30ml milk

Icing sugar, for dusting

If you want to use tinned peaches, you will need two or three 411g tins

Method

Heat the oven to 180C / gas 4. Line the base of a 23cm springform cake tin with baking paper. If you are using tinned peaches, drain them thoroughly.
To cook the fresh peaches, pop them in a large pan with 200g sugar and the vanilla seeds and pod. Cover with water - just enough to cover the fruit - and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and cover with a lid and leave them for 20 minutes.
To make the cake, sift the flour and baking powder together into a bowl three times to aerate
Beat the butter and 200g sugar until white and doubled in volume (an electric whisk is good for this). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well until mixed, then add the sifted flour and milk and mix well.
Lift the peaches out of the cooking liquid and arrange the wet peaches, cut side down, on the base of the cake tin. Pour the cake batter over the peaches and bake in the oven for 45 – 55 minutes or until golden brown and set - a cake skewer inserted in the centre of the cake should come out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin a little – about 10-15 minutes - then gently turn out onto a plate and carefully peel off the paper.
Leave to sit for 30 minutes. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.

Homemade custard

Ingredients

500ml milk

Splash of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

4 egg yolks

60g caster sugar

20g cornflour

20g plain flour

Method

Heat the milk in a pan with the vanilla until it is almost boiling
Cream the egg yolks and sugar together, then add the cornflour and flour and mix to a paste
Pour the hot milk over the beaten egg mixture and incorporate together well
Return to a clean saucepan and, using a spatula, stir over a high-ish heat until the custard comes to the boil - it should be nice and thick