Vegan, Soy, Gluten-Free Peach UpsideDown Cake

With a lot more gigs picking up and all the summer travel plans,
the side work of writing, blogging and testing has taken the sideline.
However, I’ve been promising this posting for quite a while and
couldn't keep it from you forever!

Last month, I whipped up a summery storm for the Animal Acre’s Hoe
Down. Cooking and spending time at one of my favorite places?
What could be more fun!

Going with the summer/western theme we had BBQ Tofurky Baked-
Beans, Gardein Chick’n Salad, Tomato and Watermelon Salad,
gluten-free Sweet Potato Corn Bread, and gluten-free Peach
Upside-Down Cake! All my favorite tastes of summer before it
slips away to chilly autumn nights.



I just had to share the recipe for the Peach UpsideDown Cake!!
This cake can be done with pineapple, cherries, mango or any of
your favorite fruits—but I can’t get enough of fresh juicy peaches
when their in season. Served with vegan whipped cream, it is simply divine!

I’ve been doing a lot more gluten-free, so I hope you all enjoy!

Gluten-free Vegan Peach Upside-Down Cake



2 large ripe peaches or about 2 cups, sliced
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 1/2 cup All Purpose GF flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup peach pulp or juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp flaxmeal whisked with 3 tbsp water
1/3 cup turbinado
3/4 cup almond milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract

In an 8 or 9 inch pan sprinkle the first quarter cup of sugar, then
place the peach slices over it.
Add the lemon juice to the almond milk and allow to sit and curdle.
Sift together the dry ingredients: flours, soda, powder, ginger, and salt.
Separately mix the juice/pulp, oil, flax sugar and vanilla. Add the
almond ‘buttermilk’ to the liquid mix. Gently fold in the dry mix,
just until blended and pour over the peaches in the cake pan.

Bake at 350F for about 25-30 minutes.
Once removed from the oven, put a plate over the pan and
(being careful to not burn yourself) flip over and let the cake slide out.

Allow to cool, but eat it while its warm with cream (Peaches and
Cream!!) It doesn’t keep that long, so eat it the day of at least!

Peachy-Keen Bars

I recently nabbed a vegetarian cookbook at a thrift store:
The American Vegetarian Cookbook by Marilyn Diamond. It would
be vegan if not for the honey factor. So far it seems like an awesome
book and huge to boot (over 400 pages).

It was published in 1990, so I'm thankful there are no photos.
Older cookbooks have the most ugly, dated looking food pics. I'm not
sure what it is, but everything looks orange and fresh out of a
microwave.

Flipping through it I saw a recipe that looked pretty good, but I
wanted to twist it to my own immediate dessert needs. Here is the
resulting experiment. The original called for 1 egg replacer, honey
and carob. I veganized it with raw sugar and had some peaches I
needed to use. I also added a drizzle of brandy to make the flavor
of the peaches pop.

And then I got a little fancy...



Peachy-Keen Bars

1/3 cup vegetable oil or earthbalance
1/3 cup raw sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pack of silken tofu
1/3 cup agave
1 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch
3 peaches sliced
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp brandy

In a food processor first process the oil/earthbalance, sugar,
ginger and flour until crumbly. Press half off flour mixture
into a 9x9 tray. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

Next process the tofu with the remaining ingredients, except for
the peaches and brandy.


After the bottom crust is cooled, pour the tofu
over baked crust. Arrange sliced peaches on top of that layer
and sprinkle remaining flour mix over peaches.



On top of that I arranged some roses out of super thinly sliced
peaches...



Finally, sprinkle alcohol over everything and bake for 20 more
minutes at 350F. Slice and serve alone or with whipped soycream
or vanilla nondairy ice cream.

The Queen of Hearts...

The Queen of Hearts she baked some tarts all on a summers day.

The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the knave full sore.

The Knave of Hearts returned the tarts and vowed he'd steal no more.

My tarts, on this summer's day, had three fillings...

Peach, apple, and Ohelo berry.

This little stint was for my folk's 26th wedding anniversary,

so I added the little hearts.

When doing any kind of pie filling I just add a little sugar,

some spices, a couple tablespoons of flour and (if its a big pie)

a couple tablespoons of earth balance. I jump back and forth with

using cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. I also toss the fruit in some

fresh lemon juice to keep it from oxidizing.

The last two tins I ran out of the fresh fruit filling so I chopped

up some dried apricots and raisins and threw them in with

some lemon juice and fresh ginger.

These are so perfect for parties when big slices are too much.

Also great for tofu-quiche!

Bold, Beautiful, Bellini

Summer fruits are like heaven.

I have issues in being able to save enough of the fresh fruit

I buy to actually do something with it or make recipes.

I forgot that I wanted to use some blueberries in the

sparkling wine I brought for the Fourth of July, but used them

all in my Vegan Blueberry Cheese cake. Oh well, they went to good use.

I had watched the movie I Really Hate My Job not too long ago

and in the last scene all the characters leave to go get a Bellini.

Well, the craving for Bellinis really set in and I haven't been able to shake it.

Ideally they are made with peach puree and an Italian Prosecco

(sparkling wine), but quite often the puree is substituted with schnapps

and cheap champagnes are used. They are named after the artist Bellini

because the colour of the drink is reminiscent of the colours used by Bellini.

Instead of making a puree I sliced up some fresh peaches and

allowed them to soak, absorbing some of the wine for a

few hours. Chilled, this was so amazing. The wine took on some

of the sweetness of the peaches as well, making this a beautiful

summer treat.