Peach and Polenta upside down cake

As we’re all too aware, the summer in the UK can be a bit of a hit and miss affair. It can be glorious sunshine one minute and then cloudy and rainy the next. It makes planning for any outdoor activity very tricky. Of course, we’ve all got used to this by now and with great British spirit we carry on regardless and I imagine this summer, we’ll be standing patiently with our umbrellas over barbecues up and down the land. I like to have a few special cakes on standby that are easy to bake yet look really impressive and very summery no matter the weather. This upside down cake may look complicated but it’s a breeze to make. To me, it screams ‘summer on a plate’ plus this one is gluten free so it should put a little bit of sunshine on everyone’s faces!

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan and lightly grease a 20cm round cake tin with butter and line the bottom with baking parchment. Generously grease the parchment with butter too. It’s best not to use a loose-bottomed tin here, but if that’s all you have, tightly wrap a double layer of aluminium foil around the outside of the base to prevent any juices escaping.

Quarter the peaches and cut them into thin slices and throw them into a bowl along with the muscovado sugar and lemon juice and toss them around until the sugar becomes a syrup and all the peaches are coated.

Arrange the coated peaches in a single layer, slightly overlapping, round the bottom of your tin and pour any excess sugar syrup over the top.

To make the sponge, cream the butter and sugar in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon, or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, a little at a time, beating well between each addition, then fold in the coconut flour, polenta, baking powder, lemon zest and salt

Spoon the batter over the peaches, smooth the surface with a knife and bake for 35-40 minutes or until risen and golden then remove the cake from the oven. Run a sharp knife round the edge then leave to cool for 10 minutes before carefully turning over onto a plate.

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