Making the most of summer stone fruits: Peach Cake

This light, not-too-sweet peach cake makes a nice dessert or a swanky treat for breakfast. Recipe below.

THIS WAS A THREE PEACH CAKE WEEKEND FOR US. We had overnight guests and went to a fun block party (sans guests) and a big family barbecue (with our guests). So Marion baked a peach and plum bundt cake for our guests and two of this lovely one to bring to the events.

Peaches and other stone fruits are the lively heart of many cakes in summer and early fall. (We’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of Italian plums in the market so we can make our Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Italian Plums.)

Peaches, in particular, just taste like summer, biting into the sweet/tart flesh, juice dribbling down your chin. This cake features them in a not-too-sweet cake that swaps out olive oil for most of the butter. Sour cream or Greek yogurt, and lemon extract add a subtle bright tanginess. As Marion says, it’s a nice dessert (with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if you like, but it’s lovely on its own) or a swanky treat for breakfast.

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Peach Cake

This light, not-too-sweet peach cake makes a nice dessert or a swanky treat for breakfast.

Course Dessert

Servings 8

Equipment

• 9-inch springform pan
• parchment paper for the pan

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, brought to room temperature
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 scant cup white sugar plus 1 tablespoon
• 2 large eggs, brought to room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream or full fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 cups fresh, ripe peaches (2 or 3), pitted and chopped

Instructions

• A couple of hours ahead of time, take the butter and eggs out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. When they're sufficiently warmed, preheat the oven to 350ºF.
• Prepare the springform pan: rub the bottom and sides of the pan with butter, then cut parchment paper to fit in the bottom, press it in place, and butter the paper too.
• Spoon the flour into a medium bowl. Add in the baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Stir lightly with a fork, then set the bowl aside.
• Put the butter and oil in a large bowl. With a hand mixer on medium, beat them together until fairly uniform—don’t worry if there are some lumps of butter. Pour in the 1 cup of sugar (keep the 1 tablespoon of sugar for later) and beat the mixture for 2 minutes. (Throughout this process, keep scraping down the sides with a spatula.) Add the eggs and beat everything well. Finally, add in the sour cream or yogurt and the vanilla and lemon extracts, and beat all together.
• Reduce the mixer's speed to low. Then, working in batches, beat in the flour. When it's all incorporated, set aside the mixer. Working gently, fold in 2/3 of the peaches so they are distributed uniformly. Then scrape the batter into the springform pan. Smooth the top, then spread the rest of the chopped peaches on top and press them in lightly. Sprinkle the last tablespoon of white sugar all over the top.
• Slide it into the center of the oven. Set a timer for 50 minutes. (This actually took 55 minutes in our oven.) The peach cake is done when a tester inserted near the center comes out completely clean, and the sides are just starting to pull away from the edge of the pan.
• Cool on a rack—after 30 minutes, carefully loosen the springform ring and remove it. When it has completely cooled, carefully transfer to a serving plate, removing the parchment paper with a thin straight spatula, such as an icing spatula.