This upside down peach cake is AMAZING! Naturally sweetened, no oils or butter, and made in the pressure cooker to give it extra richness and moistness.
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Occasionally pregnancy insomnia has its advantages. Like squeezing in time for another cookie (shhhh…don’t tell the kids). Or making sure my to-do list is up to date. Or thinking of new recipe and post ideas to share here. I think I do my best brainstorming in my dreams or on the brink of sleep.
Last night when I was having a hard time getting back to sleep, my mind went back to the peach cake my mother-in-law made us over the weekend. It was amazing and the perfect taste of summer.
One thing led to another and all of a sudden I’m lying in bed listening to the crickets and planning on how exactly I will adapt the recipe to make a healthier and Instant Pot friendly upside down peach cake.
The cake turned out AMAZING. So yummy I wasn’t even sad about making it three times to be sure everything was just so.
I served the first round of cake to my family for breakfast. I feel pretty comfortable calling this a breakfast cake, though I totally would serve it for dessert, or even a special midday snack. (Tea and peach cake, anyone?). It’s made with homemade Greek yogurt, applesauce, egg, fresh fruit, and maple syrup…so that’s pretty much a well-rounded breakfast, right?
What isn’t in the cake is any refined sugars, oil, or butter. No offense butter, but it’s nice to have a break every so often.
Healthy Upside Down Peach Cake in the Instant Pot
I used a 7″ tube pan for the cake itself and cooked it right in my Instant Pot. The pressure cooking makes the cake sooooo moist and tender. Perfect upside-down-sponge-cakey-ness. The peaches are drizzled with a slightly caramelized maple syrup, as are the almonds that make up the bottom crust.
While the cake cooks, (it’ll take about 35 minutes total), feel free to catch up on a podcast, wash a few dishes, or just take it easy on the couch. After all, the hands-off quality is one of the Instant Pot’s finest features.
Personally, I was ready to eat the cake as soon as it came out of the Instant Pot. And I pretty much did.
Eat the cake warm if possible, and serve it with a generous dollop of yogurt drizzled with honey, or a heap of fresh whipped cream.
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This upside down peach cake is AMAZING! Naturally sweetened, no oils or butter, and made in the pressure cooker to give it extra richness and moistness.
Ingredients
- 1 C flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/3 C applesauce
- 1/3 C maple syrup + 1/4 C for topping
- 1/3 C plain Greek yogurt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 C sliced almonds
- 1 ripe peach, sliced thin
Instructions
1. Heat the Instant Pot on Sauté (medium heat). Pour in 1/4 C maple syrup and heat until it bubbles and thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Combine the dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a mixing bowl. Combine the wet ingredients (applesauce through vanilla) in a large measuring cup. Stir each to mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Grease a 7″ bundt pan with butter or oil. Place sliced peaches in an overlapping spiral pattern on the bottom of the pan. Pour half of the thickened maple syrup over the peaches. Pour in the cake batter and smooth the top with the spatula/spoon. Evenly distribute the sliced almonds around the top of the cake batter, then pour the rest of the thickened maple syrup over the almonds.
4. Wipe the Instant Pot pot clean, place a trivet at the bottom, and pour in 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover the bundt pan with foil and carefully set it on the trivet inside the Instant Pot. Cover and cook on high pressure for 18 minutes. Let the Instant Pot naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.
5. Remove the cake from the Instant Pot using a potholder or dishtowel. Remove the foil. Gently press down on the top of the cake to flatten, being careful not to shift the almonds. Transfer the cake to a plate and serve. (Optional: Serve with fresh whipped cream or yogurt drizzled with honey).
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I made this with Granny Smith apples instead of peaches, and it was excellent! I also added some cinnamon and cardamom with the nutmeg, and will add a little extra next time. I did not caramelize the maple syrup, and used sugar-free syrup in the cake, and used walnuts instead of almonds because I like them better with apples. I used chopped walnuts with the apples on the bottom of the Bundt pan, with extra walnuts sprinkled on the top. I think I would like more apple next time, too. Overall, I think this cake would complement any kind of fruit. My neighbors and I ate most of the cake already! I plan to make another, with dates and apples and walnuts. Thank you so much for this recipe!
★★★★★
Do you think this would work with fresh Italian prune plums?
I’m not familiar with those, but if the texture is similar to peaches, then I think it will.
Found this recipe after Googling “peach cake” and it was exactly what I wanted. Never used my IP to make before so I was nervous but the cake turned out great. Instead of a tube pan, I used a small round cake pan with high sides that could fit inside my IP. Directions didn’t say to use “cake” setting or Manual setting so I did Manual setting, high for 18 minutes and let it Slow release for 10 minutes and the cake was perfectly cooked. Pretty much followed the recipe exactly but used 3 small peaches . After cake was done baking, I inverted it on a plate to cool because I wouldn’t have been able to get it out of the pan I used. I’m going to make this again tomorrow since I have a bunch of peaches. So far, so good! Thanks for posting.
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back and commenting!
May I use frozen peach slices or canned peaches? Can’t get fresh peaches now where I live 😁 at least not good ones 😏
Yes, just be sure to thaw/drain them first!
Thank you!
Amazing cake 🙂 Will definitely make this again. I am new to desserts in the IP and so it is a learning process but wow is it a delicious learning process! It is great that there is maple syrup instead of sugar, it adds a great flavor.
★★★★★
Love this recipe, didn’t have a cake pan that would fit in my instant pot but made it in the oven and still came out delicious. Thanks for a great recipe.!!!
★★★★★
This is really yummy! It came together really quickly too. I was surprised at how great it tasted, since it was naturally sweetened I knew there was a chance it might taste ‘healthy’ but it turnes out delicious!! I’d like to try it with other fruits also. But this has become a treat I plan to make probably twice a month, great recipe!
If I use a pan that doesn’t have a tube, does that affect the cooking time?
Thanks!
Barbara
If the cake is thicker, I would add a minute or two, but not much more than that.