Nectarine Upside-Down Cake
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Moist, tender cake with ripe, juicy nectarines or peaches! So pretty and so good. Bonus: the caramelized edges!
why i love this recipe
- Summer goodness. This nectarine cake just screams all the goodness of summer – the absolute perfect and quintessential summer treat. Grab a plate, grab a few slices, and top that bad boy off with some vanilla ice cream.
- No mixer needed. Nope, a mixer is not needed here! It’s such an easy cake batter mix, using up all that fresh summer fruit as needed. Don’t have a cake pan? No worries. A cast iron skillet can be used instead.
- Corner pieces win all. The nectarines get wonderfully caramelized around those edges with their amazing juices dripping down the sides as the buttery cake just soaks it all in.
- Great for entertaining. The cake tastes as good as it looks, and it makes for a stunning centerpiece for all your summer entertaining. And don’t worry, flipping the cake over is easier than you think, promise. We included some no-fail tips below.
- Freezer-friendly. Did you know this upside-down cake freezes like a dream? That means we can still have the most lovely summertime nectarine cake even in the dead of winter. Yes, please!
what exactly is an upside-down cake
An upside-down cake is a cake typically made with fruit toppings on the bottom of the cake pan, which is then flipped over once baked. This creates that favorited caramelized layer of fruit on the top of the cake. The most popular version of an upside-down cake is a classic pineapple cake but a variety of fruit can also be used.
how to make an easy nectarine upside-down cake
- Whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
- Whisk together all of the wet ingredients.
- Stir the wet to dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula and working carefully not to overmix.
- Generously butter the bottom of the cake pan or cast iron skillet, making sure to get the sides as well to ensure that the cake does not stick when flipping.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar in an even layer – this is key for that caramelized goodness.
- Arrange the nectarine or peach slices, making sure there are no gaps between the slices.
- Add the finishing touches and top it off with the cake batter, smoothing out the top.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, cooling for 5-10 minutes before flipping it onto a serving plate.
- Serve warm.
fruits to use in an upside-down cake
Nectarines
Peaches
Apricots
Pineapples
Strawberries
Cherries
Apples
Pears
Plums (but not too ripe or juicy)
cake pan versus cast iron skillet
Both a cake pan or cast iron skillet will work very well here. A cast iron skillet retains heat very well for even baking and will generally have more of those deep caramelized edges. The downside of a cast iron skillet is potential flavor transfer from savory dishes made in the cast iron skillet (such as garlic or onion).
fresh, frozen or canned fruit
Fresh fruit
Using fresh fruit is ideal, but this may limit fruit options due to seasonal availability.
Frozen fruit
Frozen fruit can absolutely be used, and is a great way to use seasonal fruits 365 days out of the year. And there is no need to thaw prior to using – handling frozen fruit will be much easier to handle. Baking time may need to be adjusted as the frozen fruit can add additional moisture.
Canned fruit
Avoid using canned fruit as they can be mushy and too heavily soaked in juice or syrup.
tips and tricks for success
- Avoid overmixing. Using a rubber spatula, stir the batter just until everything is just combined and moistened. Overmixing will lead to dense, tough cake.
- Mix it up. Use a different fruit, or add chopped fresh herbs such as basil or thyme. A combination of apples, pears and cinnamon would also make for a perfect Fall version.
- Reheat in the microwave. Heat up a slice of leftover cake in the microwave in short bursts (about 5-10 seconds). It will make all the difference for that warm, cakey, caramelized goodness.
- Freeze as needed. Upside-down cake freezes very well and can typically last up to 3 months in the freezer.
how to easily flip an upside-down cake (without it sticking!)
- Flip the cake shortly after it’s been removed from the oven (about 5-10 minutes).
- Run a butter knife around the sides to help loosen the cake.
- Place a serving plate over the cake. Work quickly and carefully to flip the cake (wearing oven mitts) in one quick motion, gently wiggling. Note, there may be some steam from the cake.
- If the cake has been sitting out for too long, pop it back in the oven for a few minutes for an easy release.
more favorited summertime recipes
Tools For This Recipe
9-inch cake pan or 9-inch cast iron skillet
Nectarine Upside-Down Cake: Frequently Asked Questions
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes! Once cooled completely, portion into individual slices and wrap tightly in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating at 350°F for a few minutes until heated through or for 5-10 seconds in the microwave.
Nectarine Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and divided
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 nectarines, sliced into 1 1/2-inch thick wedges
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, 4 tablespoons butter and eggs. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist.
- Add remaining 4 tablespoons butter to the bottom of a cast iron skillet or 9-inch cake pan, swirling the pan until the bottom and sides are well coated. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the melted butter.
- Arrange nectarine slices on top in a single layer. Scoop the batter evenly over the nectarines, smoothing out the top.
- Place into oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and turn upside down onto a serving plate.
- Serve warm.
Did you make this recipe?
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Hi, this nectarine cake is delicious!Second time I made it. I even added vanilla this time. By the way, I have a question. Can you freeze this upside down cake?
This cake was delicious but the center was undercooked. I baked it for 55 minutes. I didn’t want to leave it in the oven any longer because the top was a beautiful chestnut brown but i didn’t want to leave it in to see it turn charcoal black. Not sure what happened. Maybe it’s my oven but I don’t think so. The batter was thick as you describe.
I have a question about how thick to cut the nectarine slices. You say 1.5 inches but that is really thick. I also might try peeling the nectarines. The skin is fine but I think cutting the cake will be easier.
I will try this again because it is delicious. I’ll have to figure what I did wrong.
Absolutely delicious!
Can I freeze half?
I made this in a 9×9 pan and used 6 nectarines instead of 4. It only took 30 min to bake. I was nervous when it got done so quick. Let it cook and it came right out of pan. Couldn’t resist trying while still warm and wow!!! It’s awesome!!! Perfectly sweet with a sturdy cake to support the fruit topping. Can’t wait to share it with friends.
Flavor is good but it turned out rubbery.
I’m going to make it tomorrow xx
Well, this was an adventure. A neighbor gifted me five nectarines, so I fished around for a recipe and found yours. Thanks! (I used four, as the recipe indicates.)
The nectarines were hard but soft on the very outside – pretty typical when one lives outside of a nectarine-growing area. It’s pointless to try to get them to ripen more – that always ends in tears and tossed fruit.
I forged ahead. I peeled the nectarines because I’m not keen on stray peel, especially from underripe fruit. I then struggled mightily to extract the seed from the flesh. While ultimately successful, I wound up with randomly sized and shaped pieces of nectarine. I did not let that slow me down.
Next I got the ingredients together. Well, mostly. After I poured the eggs/milk/butter into the dry ingredients and began to stir, I realized I had forgotten the sugar! YOU CAN’T HAVE CAKE WITH NO SUGAR! Hahaha.
I made my cake in a 10-inch cast iron pan just because I can. Of course, not paying attention again, I laid all the fruit directly into the melted butter in the pan, only realizing after it was all in that I had again forgotten the sugar. Hahaha. I’m such a moron. I blame it all on the fact that this morning I had a migraine.
After plucking all the fruit back out, now covered in butter, I melted a little more butter to make up for the loss, added the brown sugar (mixed with about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon per the recommendations of others in this thread), and re-placed the fruit.
I put 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon in the dry ingredients, also per others’ recommendations.
Into the oven at 350 for 45 minutes. Tick tick tick.
At 30 minutes I took a look to make sure my oven was still at 350 and that the cake was doing as it should. It looked a perfectly nice brown – on the dark side even, so I put a piece of tinfoil over to stop the browning while it finished baking.
I was a bit nervous about the baking soda as someone else had said they thought the amount indicated in the recipe was too much but the cake rose beautifully. Like super nice, rising straight up past but not over the edge of the pan. (I think if yours rises and pours over the edges, the pan is too small or the temperature may be off?)
At 45 minutes it tested clean. Someone else said theirs had tested clean and ended up being undercooked in the middle, but I had faith and pulled it from the oven. After ten minutes, I ran a butter knife around the outside edge, flipped it over onto a plate, removed the pan, and … TADA! It came out with no sticking at all. Kind of amazing! I credit the cast iron pan for how cleanly it came out.
So then the taste. I have to say, it’s a bit of a disappointment. It’s missing something. I forgot to add vanilla – also as recommended by others – as was my intent. It may be that would have saved it. The underripe hard fruit could also be at fault, because it never has as much flavor as tree-ripened, but the fruit did cook up nice and soft. Looking at the cake, you wouldn’t think the fruit was underripe to start.
Perhaps substituting brown sugar for some of the white sugar would have helped?
It’s not a terrible cake, it’s just not great. The recipe could definitely use some serious tweaking. But thank you for posting it!
It’s not the author’s fault that you are, in fact, a moron.
This was absolutely delicious! I’m so glad I tried it. Super easy to make too.
This was absolutely DIVINE. Made exactly as directed, except added 1 tsp of vanilla to the batter, and sprinkled cinnamon over the brown sugar before adding the nectarines. It rose beautifully, baked beautifully, and was so simple to throw together. My family loved it, and I’d be very happy to serve this to guests as well. A great recipe. Thank you!!
This was a big hit with my family. However, the bake time was off. The center was very gooey at the specified time, even though my toothpick came out clean when I tested. Next time, I will cook longer and test in several spots. It’s a super easy recipe that would be great with many different fruits.
LOVE this and the recommendations for certain allergies and variations in the remarks. Although the cast iron is my ultimate favorite, is there a variation where someone has converted this to a 13×9 size pan for larger gatherings?
Wow! This is so good! I like a lot of your recipes. You rock!
Hello ! This cake sounds and looks SO good !
How long does the cake keep in room temperature? Here, it is now 30ºC. (86 Fahrenheit) After time out in room temperature, can it be kept in the fridge? If so, for how long?
Does the cake improve/ripen over time?
Is the oven set to conventional or convection?
Thank-you !
I’ve always been terrified to attempt an upside down anything. Thank you for this. First try and it came out stunning (and yummy)!
This was great! Gooey and sweet! I didn’t have buttermilk on hand though so substituted the flour for the same amount of buttermilk pancake mix. THEN, my husband accidentally poured in too much melted butter, so we added MORE pancake mix. In the end we had to bake it about 15 min longer but we had fun making it! Thank you so much for the recipe! I can only imagine how good it will be when I actually use buttermilk!
First, let me say, I follow you on Instagram, and love your recipes! Second, I made this cake using your recipe, and it was good, but needed some flavor. So, I made it again with a few changes. I subbed light brown sugar for a 1/3 cup of the white sugar, added a tsp of vanilla extract ( I was surprised that your cake had none), and also added about 2 Tbsp of sour cream to the batter. Before adding the batter over the fruit I sprinkled about 1/2 tsp cinnamon over the nectarines, and this time I added blueberries , as well. This cake was delicious! Moist and rich and just the right amount of sweetness and the touch of cinnamon and vanilla made the natural flavors of the fruit, pop. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it was definitely good, as is!
Adding Orange or Lemon zest to the batter would add another layer of goodness.
This cake came out wonderful! As a kid, one of my favorite desserts was the pineapple upside cake my mom use to make, so I had to give this on a try especially since I was given 4 bags of nectarines and wondering what to do with them all. Lol. Even though baking isn’t one of my specialties, (kinda like a science project) it came out great! However, since I had to practice with the “nectarine slicing technique until becoming proficient”, I started out with 8 nectarines until and ended up using 5 of the best instead of 4 and yes, there was an overflow. Thankfully I used a bottom pan and saved my oven from a hectic cleanup. I do have a few questions that I did not see answers for. Does it need to be refrigerated or on the counter covered with a “cake topper or cover” or just plastic wrap and for how long or……do I need to eat it all now since I live alone? Lol
Delicious cake! I’ve made this cake twice and it’s been a hit both times. I did follow a few other readers’ suggestions: added 1tsp cinnamon + 1/4tsp nutmeg to dry ingredients, ~1tsp vanilla to wet ingredients, and decreased the amount of baking soda (probably closer to 3/4tsp total but I just eyeballed it). Definitely want to try other spices in the future – cardamom and ginger could be nice. No issues with the cake flowing over even though I still put a sheet pan underneath the 9″ cake tin, and the spices really bump up the flavor of the cake and compliment the nectarines well.
Easy to make. Absolutely delicious
Added cinnamon to batter. After reading comments, thought it might be a good idea and it was.
Served warm topped with ice cream
The nectarine/brown sugar part of the cake tastes perfect- but the base of the cake is a bit lacking in flavor for my taste- I’d add a bit of vanilla extract and consider cinnamon, cardamom or another flavor for the cake next time. I’m also not sure why, but like a few other reviewers, I used the suggested size of cake pan and my cake overflowed in the oven, so I’d consider a bigger pan or cutdown on the batter a bit next time, or use a cookie sheet to catch underneath.