Have you noticed? Seriously, it’s not typically my bag. When you’re addicted to chocolate and peanut butter, fruit falls by the wayside. At least, it does in baked goods.

Now fruit on its own, raw, is a different animal entirely. And my number one favorite fruit of all time is the white nectarine. When perfectly ripe, it’s sweet and juicy and better than anything. I hate to do anything to them but eat them as they are. But every now and then, you get a less than amazing batch. Actually, more than that. So that’s when you bake them into cake!

While pineapple upside-down cakes have never been a thing for me, I am a big fan of using other fruit. Pineapples can be saved for pureed, frosty drinks on tropical islands. You dig?

Man, it’s been a while since I’ve been to a tropical island. The last time was June of 2007. Kenny and I went to St. Lucia and he got completely addicted to pineapple daiquiris. He kept sipping and sipping, and then he suggested we have a baby. And the rest is history. It also explains why we haven’t taken a big vacation since 2007.

See, I’m terrified of going on a plane with three small children. I see parents doing it (or bragging about doing it), their car seats strapped to their backs and endless luggage piled around them. Nope. Not for me. I fully admit to being a wuss when it comes to kids and travel, so I’m happy to wait a few more years for a pineapple daiquiri to come back into Kenny’s life.

In the meantime, I’ll just have to get my warm-weather fix here in our nation’s capital. It’s plenty hot here, and there’ s fruit. So there you have it.

This cake is pretty easy to make with no mixer required. And you don’t have to peel the nectarines, nor do they have to be ripe. So really, there’s no excuse for you not to jump on this bandwagon now, especially because it’s a delicious place to be.

Some upside-down cakes are made partly in a skillet, but I didn’t go that route because not everyone has skillets they can put into the oven. Can you tell I’m terrified of fire, even on behalf of everyone else? Instead, melted butter and brown sugar are mixed in the bottom of a cake pan, topped with the sliced fruit, and then covered in batter. Yes, my kids helped me with this one. It’s that simple.

And it’s a fantastic company dessert. I  rarely have dinner gatherings these days, but I had one the night I made this, and it went over very well. Especially with vanilla ice cream on top. People had seconds. I had thirds after everyone left!

There’s some amazing fruit around this time of year, but if it disappoints, stop eating it and turn it into cake. It’ll make a great picnic dessert, and everyone will be so impressed! You can use their compliments to hold you over until your next tropical vacation. Hope it’s soon!