Summer Peach Upside Down Cake in Partnership with KitchenAid®

There was immense excitement as we tore open a large brown box. My son had no idea what it housed, just that it looked like a present and most presents are for him. As I pulled out another box, he gave me an odd look, one of slight disappointment as this boxes showed no sign of it contents containing Legos. After wiping off our new KitchenAid® Artisan® Mini and placing it up on the table alongside my other mixers. A table that clearly shows my love for both KitchenAid® Classic™ Artisan® mixers and baking, as it's often covered in flour as both mixers churn together. My son's face lit up in a mini moment of sheer joy. "This one is for me, because it's little like me" he said this with the largest smile on his face, so I didn't feel the need to correct him. Instead we went about thinking of all the wonderful things we could bring to delicious life.

KitchenAid® Classic™ Artisan® stand mixers are one of the most iconic kitchen appliances. It has transcended generations, passed down like heirloom cake recipes. My next door neighbor makes the best cakes in her avocado green KitchenAid® that she inherited from her grandmother in the 1970's. In my pantry on the top shelf, sits my grandmothers 1950's KitchenAid® Classic™ Artisan® , white with black knobs with the original Pyrex bowl that it came with. My grandmothers favorite cake to prepare was a classic pineapple upside down cake, one she often allowed me to help with. So this weekend, my son and I made our own cake baking mini moments and swapped out pineapples for some of the Georgia peaches that are overflowing in the local farmers markets.

At first glance, especially standing beside my professional stand mixer, you can't help but wonder how in the world can this KitchenAid® Artisan® Mini stand up to the others. It's bowl has 3.5 qt capacity and it's almost 2 inches shorter than the other artisan models. However this Mini is small but mighty, churning out a cake and 3 batches of cookies with ease. It's 10 optimizing speeds make the KitchenAid® Artisan® Mini powerful enough for any task and it's compatible with all your attachments. We're already planning to make pasta from scratch using the our pasta roller attachment. 
As for our cake, we smoothly whipped the butter and sugar, along with the sour cream. Finally incorporating the flour to make a silky smooth batter to pour over our brown sugar and peach lined skillet. The results were incredible and delicious, marrying a tender buttery cake topped with bubbling sweet brown sugar peach goodness.

Summer Peach Upside Down Cake Yield: 8 to 10 servings

4 medium peaches (about 1 ½ lb), peeled and cut into ⅓ inch wedges 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature and divided ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 cup cake flour ¾ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt ¾ cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup sour cream Sweetened Whipped Cream (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large shallow bowl, toss peaches with lemon juice. Melt ¼ cup of the unsalted butter in a 10in cast iron skillet over medium high heat (you make also use a regular 9in cake pan, just melt the butter in microwave, then pour into cake pan). Once the butter has melted remove from heat and evenly spread the brown sugar to cover the bottom of the skillet. Arrange prepared peaches on top of the brown sugar. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using the KitchenAid® Artisan® Mini, cream together the remaining butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until blended after each addition. Add in the vanilla and sour cream. Gradually add in flour mixture, beating just until incorporated and stopping to scrape the bowl as needed. Pour batter over peaches in prepared skillet, place skillet onto baking pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in skillet for about 10 minutes. Run knife around the edges to loosen. Carefully invert cake onto serving platter and drizzle with any reserve liquid remaining in the skillet. Top with sweetened whipped cream if desired.

*Full Disclosure: The lovely folks at  KitchenAid®  sponsed this post. However, the opinions are my own formed over decades of using their products.*