These super moist and tender peach upside down mini cakes are bursting with peaches in every bite. Easy to make, this recipe is a keeper for that indulgent peach season!
Why you’ll love this peach cake recipe:
Peaches are in season!!! I love peach season SO much. And these individual peach upside down cakes are one of my absolute favorites.
- Bursts of juicy fruits in every bite – thanks to overload of peach cubes in the batter.
- You won’t even miss the frosting, as these mini cakes are topped with brown sugar glazed peach slices.
- Plus, effortlessly beautiful presentation!
How to make peach upside down cupcake:
While it might look a bit complicated, it’s truly easy to make these mini cakes. Watch how I made this cake on Instagram.
1. To prepare the topping:
- Slice 2 peaches into thin slices, then cube the rest for the batter. No need to peel the peaches!
- Spray a standard size muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Divide brown sugar and butter into 12 equal parts and place in to 12 muffin cups.
- Then arrange 3 slices of peach in each muffin cup over the butter and brown sugar. (Fan them out nicely! It’ll look pretty once cooked. ;))
Tip
Yes, you can slice 1 tablespoon of butter into 12 pieces.
Cut a tablespoon of butter in two equal sizes, then cut each one into two equal pieces. Then finely, slice each piece into 3 equal parts.
2. To make the batter
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, whip butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Then add egg and vanilla extract and beat for another 3 minutes. It should be super fluffy and white. This step is key for soft and fluffy cake!
- Now, add half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and beat until just about combined. Then stir in buttermilk followed by the remaining flour mixture. Mix until just combined and no dry flour patches is visible.
- Fold in chopped peaches into the batter.
3. Bake
- Divide the cake batter into the prepared muffin cups.
- Bake the mini cakes for about 25 minutes at 350°F, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes, and then run a butterknife (or a small offset spatula) around the edges to release the sides.
- Place a wire rack on top of the muffin pan and invert it to release the cupcakes. Be gentle removing the pan. Sometimes, peach slices fall slowly.
Tip
I love using my large cookie scoop for filling the cupcake pans. It’s mess-free and yields uniform cakes.
Serve warm peach upside down cake topped with vanilla ice cream!
Buttermilk substitutes:
I realize not everyone have buttermilk in the fridge like we do. (We sure love our buttermilk pancakes!) However, there’re 2 easy substitutes for buttermilk:
- Option #1: 1/3 cup sour cream, or plain Greek yogurt + milk (or water) to make 1/2 cup. Stir well before using.
- Option #2: 1/2 cup of milk + 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice (or white vinegar). Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes for milk to curdle.
Readers Feedback and Variations:
This recipe is LOVED by many, many people!! And I get ton of feedback and variations. So here’re some awesome feedbacks and variations from those who tried it.
- People love how these little cakes are not too sweet.
- Cinnamon is very popular addition!
- Besides peach, this recipe also works great with plums, blueberries, and nectarines.
- Fresh macerated peaches make a fabulous topping along with vanilla ice cream!
- Chopped pecans were a great addition.
- Frozen peaches didn’t caramelize, but it was still delicious.
- Canned peaches worked good as well.
- Egg replacement per Maïna: 1 heaping tablespoon of ground flax seeds + 3 tablespoon of water, whipped together and let to thicken for 5 minutes. Worked like a charm!
If you made this recipe, we’d love to hear your feedback as well!!
Storing Tips:
Store the peach upside down cake in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days, if they last that long anyway. 🙂
These cakes don’t freeze well.
If you love peaches, try this grilled peach and mascarpone ice cream!!
Peach Upside Down Mini Cakes
Ingredients
For topping:
- Non-stick cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) unsalted butter cold
- 6 teaspoons (5 g) light brown sugar
For cake batter:
- 3 fresh peaches Note 1
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup (130 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (75 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk at room temperature (Note 2)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177° C). Spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
To prepare the topping:
- Cut 1 tablespoon of butter into 12 equal parts. (TIP: cold butter is easier to cut.) Place each butter piece in 12 muffin cups.
- Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of brown sugar into each muffin cup.
- Slice 1-2 peaches into thin slices. Arrange about 3 slices into the bottom of each muffin pan.
To make the cake batter:
- Cut the remaining peaches into small cubes. You should get about 1 cup of cubed peaches. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a mixing bowl with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add egg and vanilla extract and beat it for another 2-3 minutes, or until well combined. The mixture should be fluffy and white. (Note: It's totally normal for the mixture to curdle right after adding egg, but keep mixing and it'll turn nice and fluffy!)
- Add half of the flour mixture into the batter, beat for 1 minute on low speed.
- Stir in the buttermilk and beat for another minute.
- Add the remaining flour mixture and beat just until combined. Don't overmix the batter, or it'll make tough cake.
- Fold in the cubed peaches.
- Divide the batter into 12 muffin pan cups. (TIP: This large cookie scoop makes this step super easy – one scoop of batter in each muffin cup.)
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes. Then carefully run a butter knife around the edges to release the cake from the sides. Now, place a wire rack over the muffin pan and carefully turn the pan upside down to remove the cakes.
- Serve the mini cakes warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Video
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in August, 2014.
How can I adjust cooking times for an air fryer?
Has anyone done this an air fryer? HELP!
Hi, Lily. I haven’t used my air fryer for baking, and unfortunately, I have no advise.
Hi Shinee. Could canned peaches work too ? I don’t have fresh peaches but wanted to make this if I can.
Hi, Brenda. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried it with canned peaches. If you drain it well, I don’t see why it wouldn’t. Let me know if you give it a try.
It would be nice if you were able to print this recipe in order to try. It sounds great. You need to put a print button on you recipes. Dah
Hi, Carole. Thanks for your feedback. There’re 2 buttons for print for the recipe. 1. At the very top, right below the recipe title. 2. And a print icon right above the ingredients list. Hope this helps.
It was one I would have tried but it would not print with the print button
Hi, Nancy. What happens when you hit on print button? It’s working for me just fine, and I tried on multiple browser. I’d so appreciate your feedback, as I’d love to fix the issue.
How to substitute Sour Cream for Buttermilk.
Substitution: 3-4 Tablespoons of milk + sour cream to make 1 Cup. Whisk together to blend.
Fabulous tip! Thank you, Candie!
FYI:
You can substitute milk and lemon juice or milk and vinegar for buttermilk.
Just use 1 cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or 1 Tablespoon of vinegar. Stirring to blend well. Let stand 5-10 minutes, to thicken.
I also read that you can substitute Soy or unsweetened Almond milk and Apple Cider Vinegar for buttermilk, but it won’t be as thick. However, it is suppose to work just as well.
***Note: I usually keep Cultured “Buttermilk” Blend (powder) in my refrigerator, just in case😁. I usually get mine at Kroger or Walmart. I hope this helps.
Hi, Candie. Thank you so much for sharing this information. Super helpful!!!
So good! Only difference I used fresh white peaches.
So happy you enjoyed these peach cakes. Thank you for your feedback, Ashley!
I made it last week and everyone loved it. Perfect sweetness and very fresh for summer.
Yay, so happy you enjoyed the mini cakes, Lisa! Thank you for your feedback.
Very good ! Only question I have is it seems that the diced peaches inside my cakes turned blue ! I baked them last night and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator and I just bit into one and my diced peaches looked like blueberries . Anyone else experience this? I read it may be a reaction between the acid in the fruit and the baking powder .
Hi, Sarah! How interesting! I never had that happen to me.
My daughter and I made these tonight, she is 8 and loved them! Our peach skins turned blue too! Still very yummy. We didn’t have buttermilk so used the sour cream method.
Hi, Stephanie. I’m so happy you and your daughter enjoyed baking together! Thank you for your feedback!
I substituted 1 cup of flour with pecan flour and the sugars with monkfruit sweetners. I also did the sour cream recipe for the buttermilk. They came out amazing!!! Thank you for this great and easy recipe.
Hi, Connie. Thank you so much for your feedback and sharing your tweaks. So happy you loved the recipe!