Martha Stewart, thank you

Make fun of Martha all you want, but I love getting her magazine. She (or her staff. I mean, really, woman, you can't do everything) focuses on seasonality, especially in food. Every month when I get Martha Stewart Living, I look for a seasonal recipe to use up some excess of something I have, which is often the situation. So, when the August 2008 issue arrived while I still had too many peaches from the Fruit & Berry Patch, I immediately tried this recipe. It made a wonderful local food dessert.

Peach & Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake

1 stick plus 3 T unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 medium ripe peaches, skins on, pitted, and cut into 3/4" wedges
1 cup cornmeal (I used Jerry Baird's from the Market Square Farmers' Market)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. chopped fresh lavender (thank you, kind neighbors, for sharing from your garden), or 1 1/2" tsp dried
1 1/4" tsp coarse salt
3 large eggs (easy to find locally)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. Melt 3 T butter in a 10" cast iron skillet over medium heat, using a pastry brush to coat sides. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over bottom of skillet, and cook until sugar starts to bubble and turn golden brown, about 3 min. Arrange peaches in a circle at edge of skillet, on top of sugar. Arrange the remaining slices to fill. Reduce heat to low and cook until juices are bubbling and peaches begin to soften, about 10-12 min. Remove from heat.
Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, lavender, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat remaining stick of butter and 3/4 sugar with a mixer on high speed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 min. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Mix in vanilla and cream. Reduce speed to low, and beat in cornmeal mixture in two additions.
Drop large spoonfuls of batter over peaches and spread evenly. Bake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 20-22 min. Transfer to a wire rack and let stand for 10 min. Quickly invert cake onto cutting board or platter. Tap bottom of skillet to release peaches and remove skillet.

It's easier than it sounds, and it is delicious. I want to try with honey instead of some of the sugar to make it more local, but I'll have to wait until peach season.