I recently came across this recipe in the New York Times Cooking website. The timing was perfect, as I had just purchased some beautiful peaches and I was planning to make a dessert to bring to a friend’s house for a small backyard bbq.
I decided to follow the recipe as is, and although it got rave reviews, I thought the cake fell short on flavor…but nothing a little vanilla ice cream can’t take care of…right?
So, I made the cake another two times until I got it right and all it took was a little cinnamon to the the peaches, a bit of salt and some almond extract to the batter.
Perfection!
Ingredients
- 3-4 peaches (unpeeled and sliced about 1/3 inch thick)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cup (130 grams) cake flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar plus 1/2 cup
- 5 oz. unsalted butter (140 grams or 1 stick plus 2 tbs) at room temperature
- 1 vanilla bean split and scraped, or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. almond extract
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a half sheet pan lined with either aluminum foil or parchment paper on the bottom rack (in case you get any drippings).
- Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
- Wash peaches thoroughly and dry with paper towels or clean dish cloth.
- Cut peaches in half, pulling apart halves to remove pit and cut into 1/3 inch wedges.
- Add peaches, lemon juice, cinnamon in a bowl. Mix thoroughly with a rubber spatula and set aside until ready to use.
- In a 10 inch skillet over medium heat add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon until sugar melts and turns amber in color. Turn off heat and add 2 tbs. of butter, stirring until well blended and caramelized sugar coats the bottom of skillet evenly.
- Overlap peach wedges in a circular pattern starting from the outer edge of the pan and working your way towards the middle, as pictured above.
- Using hand mixer or a heavy stand mixer combine remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup butter, vanilla, almond extracts and beat until smooth and light in color.
- Add eggs one at time, beating until blended after each addition. Add sour cream and blend until smooth.
- Gradually add sifted flour mixture and mix on low speed or fold with a rubber spatula until just blended.
- With a spoon or offset spatula, spread batter over peaches until completely covered.
- Place skillet in the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes. Cake should be golden brown and when toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool on stove top or on a wire rack. When cool enough to handle run a knife around the edge before inverting onto a serving plate.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.
Makes 8-12 servings