Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Ina's Fresh Peach Cake

 
Just a few blocks up the road from us is a very big orchard and farm that we love to visit.  This past weekend they were having a corn festival which meant that they had pony rides, craft booths, and live music.  The kids love going there and I don't mind taking them because I love visiting their farm stand.  It's a very quaint store, with an old-timely feel to it, and I could literally spend at least an hour, or more, walking around looking at everything.  They sell all kinds of decorations for the house, as well as beauty products, toys for kids, cookbooks, kitchen equipment, all sorts of local food mixes, jams, jellies, pickles, and lots and lots of gorgeous fresh produce.  

Anyway, this weekend I went a bit mad buying things while I was there.  A couple dozen ears of corn, all sorts of fresh peppers, gobs of peaches, cookies n cream fudge for my daughter, and a loud ass pop gun for my son (I'm already regretting that purchase).  Yep, I couldn't even carry it all to the car.  I had to use one of those wagons they provide to haul my goods.  When I got home I laid out 24 ears of corn on the counter and got "the look" from my husband.  It was the same look I got when he found out we had 28 boxes of pasta in our pantry. 


Needless to say, I shucked corn outside for a LONG time and when I was done I came in and saw the peck of peaches laying on the counter.  That's when I remembered Ina's recipe for her Fresh Peach Cake and decided to make it as a reward for shucking all that corn.  Surely shucking all that corn burned enough calories for a slice of cake? 
Fresh Peach Cake
Adapted from Ina Garten's How Easy Is That?
Serves 8

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temp
1 cup sour cream, at room temp
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

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar for 3-5 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy.  With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.
Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan.  Top with half of the peaches, then sprinkle with two-thirds of the sugar mixture.  Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the remaining peaches on top, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans. 

Bake the cake for 45-55 minutes (mine took more like 80 minutes), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

**You can make this recipe even easier; substitute 16 ounces frozen peaches, defrosted.
 Notes/Results:  I'm not usually the biggest fan of a coffee cake or breakfast cake, but Ina's Fresh Peach Cake is really fabulous!  Of course I might be a bit biased because peaches are my absolute favorite fruit, BUT saying that, I think this is exquisite.  My favorite part of the cake was how the bottom and the sides got all caramelized, sweet, and crunchy with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Of course the inside was moist and fragrant with peaches, AND I'm not usually a huge fan of nuts on my cakes/breads, but the pecans on top of this cake were really nice because they gave that added crunch and of course they paired perfectly with the peaches.  A slice of this cake warm with a little bit of cream poured over it is swoon-worthy.  I highly recommend this recipe if you love peaches and/or you have an abundance of peaches right now.


Note:  The only drawback to this recipe is that I think the baking time is off in the book.  Ina says to bake the cake for 45-55 minutes, but this is simply not enough time.  Mine was wobbly in the center and I found I had to bake it about 80-90 minutes total.  Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.

I submitting this to my friend Michelle @ Ms. enPlace for her Garden Variety Wednesday.

20 comments:

  1. oh wow great cake and I love stores like that and always buy too much as well he he

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh wow, I am totally feeling this cake. I am wondering how this might work with apples.
    *kisses* HH

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds delicious! I haven't had a good fresh peach in ages.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just bought tons of Georgia peaches and have been googling what to do with them. This sounds and looks delish!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would have done exactly the same thing. When good fresh produce is that close, you have to buy it in bulk! This cake sounds super delicious. I love fresh peaches!

    ReplyDelete
  6. YUM! That looks really awesome and I'm loving coffee cake-type cakes more and more these days. I've gotten around the shucking corn thing by just putting the whole thing in the fire pit. Easy peasy ;D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Delicious!Love the pictures,Kim!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is one of my favorite Ina cakes. I don't remember if I had to cook it longer, which means it's been to long since we ate it. I'll have to check our farmers' market this weekend and see if the peaces look ready. Cream on top sounds wonderful (ice cream is, too).

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can I tell you how I'd be in heaven if I had this! The way you described the bottom and sides of the cake...my goodness.

    Haven't had much luck finding good peaches this year, but I'm sure butter, sugar, cinnamon, and pecans would help them out!

    You made me laugh with this post--first with "the look" from your husband, and second b/c of the pop gun. I was reminded of a story you once shared about a little red-headed boy screaming something in a store. ;-)

    Thanks for linking this with Garden Variety Wednesday! Good to have you!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Peaches ranks #1 in my summer fruit category, too. I've made this cake, and loved it too. Thanks for reminding me to make this again.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I want to go to that orchard. I would have come home with a wagonful also. I must get myself How Easy is That? I don't do coffee cakes (but like them) because they always seem so painstaking - but this peach cake - yes, worth the calories and not to hard to do! As for corn season - it will be here in another week or two - and then the fun begins anew! Thanks for the tip on the baking time. Because I will be making this.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great looking cake! Love the pecans with the peaches. Nice you have an orchard nearby.

    ReplyDelete
  13. LOL, I was just cleaning out my cupboards the other day and thought of you and your 28 boxes of pasta. I think I found 4 or 5 boxes. I'm still laughing over that...... :o) Joe would just love this as he's a huge peach fan too. This is a cookbook I think I want. Every recipe from it seems to be wonderful. Wish list!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have learned that Ina's cakes are really good and this one is a favorite because of the peaches and the sour cream. I hope to make this in the near future.

    There is a new group that is cooking Ina recipes. It happens that this week is baked goods. I invite you to link this recipe up. It would make a great addition.

    http://bizzybakesb.blogspot.com/2011/07/sour-cream-coffee-cake.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh how I long for access to good, fresh peaches and a slice of this cake. It looks amazing. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh, I know that look on hubbie's face regarding the purchase of 'too much'; I'm trying to figure out why I keep doing that! Love this idea of a peach cake and anything from Ina always works for me. I brought my family a bag of peaches, which were completely devoured and am so anxioius to get back home and buy more to make recipes like this.

    ReplyDelete
  17. In'a recipes never disappoint, that's for sure. What a luscious, beautiful peach cake. Local peaches are just starting to come into the markets and I can't wait to try this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Really a moist and delicious cake. Very easy to make. My family doesn''t like the nuts in it so I omitted them. It still is a really good cake.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Did you bake yours in a glass pan? Glass always takes longer than using a metal pan. I have decided to put this on my blog since I have some freshly picked peaches from last year that I froze. I'm also adding some raspberries that I bought and froze last year. Can't wait to see how the combination taste in this cake. -- Sherry aka www.rosemaryandthegoat.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wonderful recipe. It took about 75 minutes to bake. Definitely will make it again.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment! At the moment I am having a huge problem with spam so I've had to add comment moderation and close off comments to anonymous users. I apologize for the trouble and hope to return my comments to normal shortly.