We have this weird block behind our house. It’s land locked, 572m2 (most of which is the drive way), and it’s completely bare except for a peach tree.
For about a week a year, the peach tree become so laden with fruit that the branches reach down to the ground. So, throughout that week for the last 3 summers we have jumped our back fence and picked as many peaches as we could reach, and then went back for the rest just days later.
I made fruit leather, J made 2 different peach ciders and we kept a few aside so that I could make this cake. Sadly there’s not an ever lasting supply, but I do also love that fruit and vegetables are seasonal, and there’s variety throughout the year.
I came across this recipe while camping, it was in one of the many magazines that I read throughout the two weeks and I baked it the afternoon that I go home. Clearly I was missing my kitchen (even though my camp kitchen was so awesome). Often when I pull recipes out of magazines I never actually get around to cooking them, but this one was too good to ignore.
The cake was absolutely delicious, and, even though it just sat on our bench for a week, it was still so moist.
Do you horde magazine recipes? Do you ever actually cook them? Or do they just accumulate in a pile in the kitchen?
- Syrup
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 90 g butter
- Cake
- 8 medium peaches
- 2 cups SRF
- 1/3 cup ground almonds
- 250g butter
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- Heat sugar with water until sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves then leave to boil until a caramel brown colour (about 10 mins). Keep a close eye on the pot, once browned add butter and stir briskly with a metal spoon. Mixture will froth, remove from heat and stir until froth has died down.
- Preheat oven to 170*C
- Grease 26cm round cake pan and line.
- Halve peaches and remove stones (keep aside). Arrange peaches cut side down to cover bottom of pan.
- Pour about 2/3 of syrup over the peaches. Place reserved peach stones in remainder of syrup, and add 1/2 cup water, place back on medium heat, strain and reserve syrup.
- Beat butter and sugar together with vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, beat until incorporated.
- Add dry ingredients and sour cream, beat until combined.
- Spoon gently over peaches, spread until level.
- Bake for 45 min – 1 hr or until golden brown.
- Allow cake to rest in pan for 10 mins, then turn out onto cake plate.
- Drizzle some of the remaining syrup over cake and reserve the rest for serving.
Lucky you with a peach tree! That cake looks to die for good. I can only imagine how good it is. I can’t wait to try it. It will be with store bought peaches but I still have to have it!
I’m so in love with that peach tree!
How lovely to have access to a beautiful peach tree! And you certainly made good use of all the peaches you picked. I love the look of this cake. It looks very moist. I will pin it so I remember to make it xx
The cake was absolutely to die for. J thinks it’s the best thing that I’ve ever baked.
That looks like the moistest cake I have seen in a while. I love those cakes that have syrup absorbed through them.
That is the trouble with a lot of produce – it all comes at once and then it’s over for another year.
Like you I love and hate the seasonality of some foods, but I like that I’m learning more about it and cooking more with the seasons.