Upside Down Peach Cake with Basil Ice Cream

Upside Down Peach Cake with Basil Ice Cream

This upside down grilled peach cake is honestly one of the best desserts I have ever made! The cake is so gooey and buttery and the hint of charred peach really makes it pop! Paired with basil ice cream it is exactly what I want to eat every summer evening. The inside of this cake was so soft and the outside was a little crispy from cooking on a hot grill. This is or the 8th episode of my summer Youtube series Grilling@, which you can watch here.

The inspiration for this recipe

Even though I don’t make as many desserts on here, I really love doing it. I especially love to put my ice cream industry experience to use! Peach and basil are one of my favorite summer combos so putting peach in the cake and basil in the ice cream was a great idea for a new twist on these flavors. Part of the plan for this dessert was, how can I get the flavors of charred peach into a cake?

Grilling the peach cakes

To get the flavors of the grill into the cake, I grilled the peaches first, then put them into the bottoms of the ramekins. The cake batter is lots of butter, egg, bourbon, sugar, and flour.

peaches on the grill, and cake on the grill!

Make the basil ice cream

First you warm up the milk and stir in the sugar. Let it sit with the basil for a few hours as it cools. Then strain out the basil, add the cold cream, and some chopped basil and it is ready to freeze!

making the basil ice cream

I like to use liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream, but you can do it in your at-home ice cream maker if you don’t have access to Ln2. My ice cream is like a gelato/ice cream hybrid, and I use xanthan gum and milk powder to thicken and stabilize it instead of egg. I like it because I feel like it helps the flavors of the milk and basil really shine, when eggs tend to mute them.

I use liquid nitrogen for ice cream

Perfect rooftop basil ice cream!

basil ice cream

Flip the upside down peach cakes

The cakes sunk a little after you take them off the grill. I tried to put as little flour in as possible, so the cake is gooey inside. This contributes to it not being as stable and sinking a bit. So don’t worry when you see it sink – the final flavor and texture will be perfect! And look how nice they slip out of the ramekins.

upside down peach cake

And you could see those great grill marks.

upside down peach cake with grill marks

Serving the upside down peach cake with basil ice cream

After you flip the upside down peach cake, top it with the basil ice cream and eat it immediately! The ice cream drips down into the cake and the hot crispy cake edges balance so well with the creamy cold ice cream and the gooey cake center. Perfection in a dessert!

diggin into the upside down peach cake

I absolutely loved this dessert. Check out the video to hear me describe it more!

upside down peach cake

Twists on this recipe

You could make this in the oven instead of on the grill. I would still try and toss the peaches in a frying pan on high heat for a few minutes to get the caramelization started before putting them into the ramekins. I would bake them at 400 for about 15-20 minutes.

This is the gooey butter cake vibe I was trying to capture in this upside down peach cake and I used that linked recipe to help me get there.

For more of my sweet recipes with a twist, check out my marjoram honey donuts, amaro shortbread sandwich cookies, or these chili basil ricotta brownies!

Upside Down Peach Cake with Basil Ice Cream

Upside down peach cake completely on the grill, topped with basil ice cream made from liquid nitrogen. A great summer dessert!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Resting plus more if using ice cream maker1 hour
Total Time1 hour 40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: grilled, Sweets
Servings: 3 cakes
Calories: 1111kcal

Ingredients

Ice Cream

  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 1 cup milk powder
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 bunch basil
  • 1.5 cups heavy cream

Cakes

  • 1 stick butter plus more for greasing the ramekins
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon bourbon
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 large peach sliced

Instructions

Ice Cream

  • The recipe makes about double the amount of ice cream that you will need for the three cakes
  • Microwave the milk for a few minutes until hot. Whisk in the milk powder, sugar, salt, and xanthan gum and stir until dissolved.
  • Remove about 10 basil leaves and set aside. Add the rest of the basil, stalks and all, to the warm milk. Allow to steep in the fridge for at least one hour.
  • Chop the remaining basil leaves very finely.
  • Strain the basil out of the milk and stir in the cream.
  • Stir the chopped basil in. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Allow to continue to set in the freezer until ready to use.

Cakes

  • Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until it lightens in color and looks fluffy. Add in the egg and mix to combine.
  • Add in the bourbon and salt and continue to mix. Stir in the flour until it all just comes together.
  • butter the ramekins and add brown sugar. Shake the brown sugar around in the ramekin to coat and dump out excess.
  • Place the ramekins on the top rack of a grill on high heat. Lightly oil the peaches and grill on one side until you see grill marks. Place 2 slices of peach into the bottom of each ramekin, grill mark side down. Pour the cake batter into the ramekins and close the grill. Turn heat to low and keep an eye on the temp but don’t open the grill unless it gets too hot. I was able to hover the temp at around 425. After about 20 minutes they were ready.
  • Flip the cakes out onto a plate and top with the ice cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 1111kcal | Carbohydrates: 108g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 67g | Saturated Fat: 42g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 251mg | Sodium: 1243mg | Potassium: 791mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 84g | Vitamin A: 2392IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 533mg | Iron: 2mg

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