Thursday, August 22, 2013

Fresh Peach Cake


From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...When seed crops here are cut, once green fields turn brown and the vibrant landscapes of spring and early summer nap, waiting for the drenching rains of fall to restore their verdant color. Fortunately, the late summer harvest brings a rainbow of color to the table and the vibrant hues of corn, tomatoes and peaches help brighten the monotony of the fallow landscape. Consciously or not, I'm drawn to their color and tend to overbuy produce with shades of red and gold. That, of course, means I'm always scrambling to use my purchases before they becomes fodder for the compost pile. This year, I went crazy with peaches, and despite canning and freezing quantities of them, I was still left with fruit that had to be eaten out of hand or used in baking. That led to a pie and a galette, and, for the first time, a trial of Ina Garten's Fresh Peach Cake. This is a wonderful snack cake that also works for breakfast or a brunch. The cake is moist and has a lovely crumb, but strangely enough, I found it lacking in fresh peach flavor. That is not the fault of the recipe and I attribute it to the peaches I was using. They seemed fine when eaten out of hand but they lost their oomph when baked. Next year, I'll try a different variety of peach to see if I can get better flavor. At any rate, I know you'll love this cake. I suspect that Ina fans have already made it, but I wanted to include her recipe for those of you who would like to give it a try. Here is how it is made.



Fresh Peach Cake
...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Ina Garten

Ingredients:
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided use
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large, ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
2) Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in bowl of an electric mixer. Beat with paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time, beating just until incorporated. Add sour cream and vanilla and beat until batter is smooth.
3) Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients to batter and mix just until combined.
4) Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl.
5) Spread half of batter evenly in pan. Top with half of peaches, then sprinkle with two-thirds of sugar mixture. Spread remaining batter on top, arrange remaining peaches on top, and sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture and pecans.
6) Bake cake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 8 servings.


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25 comments :

decocinasytacones said...

What a yummy peach cake...I love it when we´re in season like now.
Hmmm,I may copy this!!.
Love and have a great day
Marialuisa

Rafeeda AR said...

Love this!!! Looks so yum... wish I was ur neighbour so dat I cud get 2 eat ur bakes!!! :) :)

Jasline @ Foodie Baker said...

Hi Mary, the cake looks very delicious! I wish I can have a slice right now :)

Lynn said...

Sounds like a great cake Mary! I love adding sour cream to cakes, it helps them stay moist:@)

Kim said...

Yummmm! A peachy cake! It looks goood! Ina knows her cake! And you too.

Unknown said...

I can see this would be a great breakfast cake. Here in the tropics it is rare to get really good peaches. Mostly they have been picked to early and shipped to us in northern tropical Australia. However when they are good they are really good. Lucky you to have so many good peaches

Unknown said...

I've never been a huge fan of peaches... actually, like coconut, I love the flavor, but not always the fruit itself.... but this cake looks so delicious and I just know it would taste amazing!

Katie C. said...

I know Ina likes to use extra large eggs but I only have large. Do you think it will matter?

Laura Dembowski said...

I have made this cake twice and love it! Yours looks great!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Katie, the cake will be just fine made with large rather than extra large eggs.

June12345 said...

Why Oh why does Ina always use extra large eggs! I think if you did a poll at least 90% of the population would have just large eggs in their refrigerator!

Mary, the cake looks delish, can you tell me about how many cups of peaches you used. Peaches vary so much in size, and I think this cake might be equally as good made with mango (mango = the tropics peaches)

Mary Bergfeld said...

June, I had about 3 cups of sliced peaches.

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Thank you so much for this great cake's récipe! Big hugs,
FABBY

Ginny Hartzler said...

Peaches and cinnamon both, it must be a wonderful aroma, I can almost smell it now!

David said...

Mary, This is just a beautiful cake! There is nothing like fresh peaches...too bad they are only really good for a few weeks each year... Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Martha said...

mmm, looks and sounds so yummy! I'm a sucker for fresh peaches too!

Banana Wonder said...

Looks incredible! I must make this!

~~louise~~ said...

It's been a glorious peach season this year Mary and I for one am thrilled! I actually had to add some sugar to a peach pie I made last week because the peaches were just on the brim of not being sweet enough. I may try roasting them next time or perhaps even in this recipe if I spy some more tempting peaches at the market this weekend.

Your cake looks yummy. I really wish I could "test" it right now!

Thanks for sharing, Mary...

Sugar said...

Hi, I'm Ada from Italy: http://magiksugar.blogspot.it/ :)Beautufil cake looks really good. I love it!
Thanks for sharing! :)

Gloria Baker said...

Mary this look awesome!!

Joanne said...

I definitely have not baked enough with peaches yet this summer! love the looks of this cake!

Catherine said...

Dear Mary, So many delicious peaches to eat, bake and enjoy!! This is a beautiful way to use the peaches, of course with a good cup of coffee. Blessings dear and a hug, Catherine xo

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I love peaches. This is a great summer dessert.

dorism6220 said...

The cake was delicious - I have a pot luck tomorrow so I made another one to take with me. Unfortunately, I left the eggs out to come to room temperature - the dog picked 2 of them off the sink...couldn't figure out what she had in her mouth as the cake was the only thing out and she couldn't reach it!

tender b. said...

Wow! This looks great.

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