Inspired by the plump, sweet peaches off my mom’s tree, my sister’s peach upside down cornmeal cake and the knowing how well rum would go with peaches – such as banana’s foster (wow that was a mouthful!), I decided to make my own version. Except I wanted to make it a bit lighter than the traditional heavy cake recipes usually found for cornmeal cakes. So, I looked up a few different recipes including ones from Martha Stewart and Cooking Light and made a cake of my own. I was really pleased with the outcome.

The cake has a sweet cornbread type flavor, warmed by the rum and brown sugar mixed with peach juice that seeped into the batter while it was baking. The best part was the outside edge where this sweet mixture started to bubble up along the edges of the pan, creating a crisp, sweet crust. I highly recommend serving it with some vanilla ice cream. It complimented the flavors perfectly. Enjoy!

Peaches Foster Upside-Down Cornmeal Cake

• 3/4 cup white wheat flour
• 1 cup cornmeal or polenta
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/3 teaspoon coarse salt

• 1/4 cup butter, soft
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup nonfat, greek yogurt

• 4-5 fresh peaches (do not slice until you are ready to use them or they’ll turn brown)
• 1 Tablespoons rum
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon corn starch
• 1 Tablespoon white wheat flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cake pan (I used springform, but it wasn’t necessary) with non-stick cooking spray or coat with a light film of butter.
2. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl.
3. In a large bowl or Kitchen Aid mixer, blend butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and yogurt to the mixture and blend until smooth. Add flour mixture and blend until just combined.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine rum, brown sugar, corn starch and 1 Tb flour until smooth. Spread over the bottom of your pan.
5. Peel and slice peaches, arranging them on the top of the brown sugar and rum mixture in the pan. Pour your cornmeal batter over the top of the peaches.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, just until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and invert onto a plate. Serve while still warm with vanilla ice cream.