Peach-Blackberry Upside Down Coffee Cake

Peach-Blackberry Upside Down Coffee Cake

As promised, here is a post all about this beautiful coffee cake.  As I was searching around for recipes, I came across several that used a caramel fruit combination that I knew would be perfect.  However, most recipes call for a large amount of sugar added to the cake as well as 1/2 cup to 1 cup of butter.  I wanted the cake to be less rich and sweet because of the caramel topping.  Also, I knew I was going to add a brown sugar pecan crumble to the cake so that added all the richness that was needed.

I experimented with the measurements and I finally decided on 3/4 cup of white sugar for the cake. Next, I worked out the butter issue.  I ended up with 1/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup Canola oil combination for the fat in the cake.  The result is a lightly sweet cake that is very moist.

I made this cake in a non-stick Angelfood cake pan and it slid right out.  It can also be made in a large cast iron skillet--the result will be a more dense cake with a darker crust.

Recipe:
Caramel/fruit 

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

4 cup fresh peaches (pitted and sliced)

1 cup blackberries

The finished cake

Cake

1/3 cup butter 

1/3 cup Canola oil

3/4 cup white sugar

4 whole eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup milk

3 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumble topping

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup toasted pecans

generous pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use a deep sided 10 inch pan, or wrap the outside of a 10 inch springform pan or Angelfood cake pan with aluminum foil to prevent leaking.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Combine all ingredients for the crumble.  It should look dry and clumped.
5. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then pour into bottom of pan. Sprinkle with 3/4 sliced peaches, blackberries, and 1/2 crumble mixture.
6. In a large bowl, cream together butter, oil and the white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. 
7. Pour 1/2 batter over caramel and fruit in pan. Add remaining crumble mixture.
8. Pour remaining batter over the middle layer.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top is getting too dark, cover lightly with foil. Check the cake at 60 minutes to determine doneness.
10. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto serving platter and carefully remove pan. Be extremely careful of hot caramel and fruit juices!

The cake is perfect for brunch served with baked eggs wrapped in ham (previous post)