Author Notes: This particular flavor combination comes from my childhood — on summer mornings my mother would fix me a bowl of cut up peaches with milk, sprinkled with sugar and a dusting of nutmeg. Although that’s a pretty sublime combination, the flavors translate well to cake form. – Savour —Savour
Food52 Review: We had high hopes for this peach cake, and we weren’t disappointed. We love Savour’s headnote about childhood breakfasts served to her by her mother of peaches, milk, sugar and nutmeg, which were the inspiration for this recipe. The cake is chock full of juicy summer peaches, and the addition of ground almonds sets it apart from other simple butter cakes. It’s luscious and a bit custardy in the areas surrounding the peaches — a texture that works when the cake is either warm or at room temperature. Don’t be alarmed if the batter seems to curdle when you add the buttermilk, as it will come together again once you mix in the dry ingredients. – A&M —The Editors
Serves: 8
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 hrs 5 min
Ingredients
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3
ripe peaches
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3/4
teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
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1
cup sugar
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6
tablespoons softened unsalted butter
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1
large egg
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1/2
cup buttermilk
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1/2
teaspoon vanilla extract
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1/4
teaspoon almond extract
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1
cup all-purpose flour
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1/2
cup almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
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1
teaspoon baking powder
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1/4
teaspoon baking soda
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1
pinch Turbinado Sugar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
- Cut the peaches into bite sized pieces. Toss the peaches with nutmeg and 2 tablespoons sugar. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and remaining sugar with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the egg, buttermilk and extracts, and stir to combine.
- Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix until smooth (some lumps may remain). Pour into the prepared pan.
- Press the peaches into the top of the cake. They can be nicely arranged, but I like to cram as many peaches as possible into the cake. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
/028ec69a-ae48-43ff-993b-25bc09900f4f--9094917538_66daa1babb_z.jpg "Simple Summer Peach Cake 2")
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Photo by James Ransom
/51c35d71-f9d5-49c1-a68e-8cb8eb3521a1--peachcake_1900.JPG "Simple Summer Peach Cake 3")
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/ee526c3b-e672-4adb-805c-92dae723fa3a--July_Food_588.jpg "Simple Summer Peach Cake 4")
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/2e368125-db36-4e67-8d44-184a442478c6--3930117887_5585d846f2.jpg "Simple Summer Peach Cake 5")
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We ground almonds instead of using preground almond flavor. It was very loud.
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The recipe calls for a cup of sugar, but then asks you to use 2 tablespoons of it first, so we simply measured the tablespoons from the cup!
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After we added the buttermilk to the butter and eggs, it curdled rather violently. But no fear: It works out!
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This is a nutmeg-specific rasp grater, but any microplane will do.
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The peaches macerated with sugar and nutmeg while we prepared the batter.
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Pressing the peaches into a single layer. It looked gorgeous!
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Rustic and handsome, the way we like our cakes.
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