The Only Newsletter I Care About This Week
Peach Upside-Down Cake
By Florence Fabricant via NYT Cooking
This came out super sweet and delicious. I had to remake the caramel twice because I got impatient and burned it. And then the cake part didn't have a ton of integrity... but I blame that on skipping 2 out of the 3 called for eggs and 1/2 of the butter. What can I say? The peaches were ripe and I NEEDED to bake a cake. The positive news: it was still delicious. Chalking this one to Tina Fey's 'Say yes and you'll figure it out afterwards' approach.
My commentary on the original recipe below in peach.Â
INGREDIENTS
¼ pound/114 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
2-3 large, ripe peaches
1 ¼ cup/250 grams sugar
1 cup/128 grams flour (I used this one)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (I prefer cinnamon)
3 eggs (or 1)
¾ cup crème fraîche (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake or pie pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper and butter that as well - don't skip. This is an important step for this kind of potentially sticky cake.Â
Cut the peach into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange the slices in a pattern on the bottom of the pie pan. Don't overthink it. You're just going to eat it.Â
Combine 1/2 cup/100 grams of the sugar with 1/4 cup/60 milliliters of water in a saucepan or skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture turns amber, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and pour this caramel evenly over the peaches in the pie pan. If I'm being honest (and I do always try to be honest, to be honest), this level of instruction left a lot to be desired for what can actually be sort of a tricky process. After dumping the first batch, I googled another caramel recipe and it worked out wonderfully!Â
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and nutmeg (or cinnamon), and set aside.
In another medium bowl, beat together the butter and remaining 3/4 cup/150 grams sugar until light. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Stir in the flour mixture. Spread the batter evenly over the peaches and caramel.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until top is golden brown and cake is set. Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack. Run a knife around the sides, place a platter on top and invert the cake onto the platter. If any of the peach slices stick to the pan, lift them off carefully and replace them on top of the cake. Serve the cake warm or cooled to room temperature for breakfast for the next 5 days, with crème fraîche and/or a black cup of coffee on the side.
Transitioning v gently into a new-to-me gluten free season. Crossing my fingers that I'm only twerking with a sensitivity vs an allergy so I can still sneak things like sourdough and a sip of beer here and there (and don't you dare email me and tell me that that's not how it works because it's all I've got right now!). But in the meantime, my internet friends have kindly offered up their favorite sans gluten recommendations.
Sharing below, in case you are on the hunt as well!Â
 Trader Joe'sÂ
(For the record, I had a few people share that TJ's often has cross contamination and therefore may not be a great fit for those who have to be extra cautious.)
Egg Fettuccine  (my mind was blown away by this one earlier this week)
Cinnamon Muffins
Cauliflower CrustÂ
Cauliflower Gnocchi (with this longtime go-to recipe)
Great Bread options in general (honorable mention to their bagels)
Good Follows
@thedefineddish
@cannellevanille (and her legendary GF cookbook with mind-blowing bread recipes)
@cookieandkate
@minimalistbaker
@outdoorfoodie_wellness_fntp
@nobread
Flour
King Arthur Flour
Thomas Keller
Bob's Red MillÂ
Crackers and Chips
Simple Mills Crackers
Mary's Gone Crackers
Milton's Gluten Free Crispy Sea Salt Baked Crackers (my personal fave)
Siete Chips (but also, anything Siete)
Local Faves
My beloved Rye Bakery 😠(if you are able to do sourdough!)
Meet the Source
Nowhere Bakery
Other
Jovial Products
Simple Mills
King Arthur Almond Cloud Cookie
Glutino English Muffins
This Blueberry Banana Breakfast Bread Recipe
Ugly's GF Sourdough Pizza Crust
Capello Pasta
Momofuku Tamari
This Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe
Just Ingredients
Finally, a recipe that just sounds too easy to be real/good, but now I must try:
1 Cup of yogurt + 1 Cup of self rising flour = GF Flatbread Dough!Â
Go figure!
Anyway, historically, my favorite way to cook for my GF sister is to just use foods that were never meant to be glutenous in the first place, but I am so happy to live in a time where there are so many thoughtful and delicious options. And where people's empathy towards varied diets seems to be expanding. I will continue to share the food that I'm eating here and though it will likely be GF, my hope is that you never really notice either way. Always feel free to send me more to add to the list - I'm working on finding a way to share this in a more easily accessible place for future reference. If that sounds interesting to you, reply to this email and let me know so I can be sure to prioritize that!
Best of luck to anyone who is currently dealing with or has dealt with cooky dietary changes / experimentation. It can be the pits. May all of your soy sauce be tamari!