September Roasted Peach Cake

I’m 34 weeks pregnant and love the extra 300+/day calories the pregnancy books all agree I should be consuming!  It’s September in New England and peaches are ready for  pickin’.  This Peach Cake is a dense and moist homage to the dog days.   The majority of the peaches are roasted off in the oven with lemon zest and granulated sugar to capture the sweet and heady intensity of this nostalgic stone fruit.  The roasted peaches are tossed with panko or amaretti cookie crumbs before layering into the cake batter.  This simple trick keeps with peaches suspended in a prominent middle layer instead of sinking to the bottom.  Sliced almonds add a nice crunch on  top.  I love it!  My mom said this cake reminded her of a peach bread pudding!  Who needs heavy cream when we can substitute protein dense Greek yogurt?  Not to mention, this time of year when the peaches are beautifully ripe, only a 1/2 cup plus a couple tablespoons of sugar are needed to round out the flavor.  Baby bump approved, for sure!

INGREDIENTS

Makes 1x 9″ Springform Cake

• 4+ lbs (approx 10) organic ripe peaches, pitted, peeled and cut into wedges, about 8 per peach.
• Zest and Juice of 1 lemon (1Tbs + 1Tbs)
• 1 Tbs + 2 Tbs granulated sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour (I like King Arthur)
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 8 Tbs butter, unsalted, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt (I like Fage)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup finely crushed panko or crushed amaretti cookies
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 Tbs raw or pearl sugar

PREPARATION:

• Preheat oven to 425F.
• Reserve +/- 24 peach wedges in a small bowl and toss with 1 Tbs granulated sugar and 1 Tbs lemon juice. Set aside.
• Dice remaining peaches into thirds crosswise.  On a non stick of greased cookie sheet, toss with 2 Tbs granulated sugar, 1 Tbs lemon juice and lemon zest.  Roast 25-30 minutes or until liquid has mostly evaporated and peaches or yielding a golden caramelized, roasted color on the edges.  Stir and rotate cookie sheet once.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

• Reduce the oven temperature to 350.  Grease a 9″ springform pan and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar and eggs until light and integrated. Whisk in butter.  Stir in greek yogurt and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla.
• Gently fold in flour mixture to the liquid mixture.  Be mindful not to over mix.
• Once the roasted peached have cooled toss with either panko or amaretti cookie crumbs.  This will help keep the roasted peaches suspended in the cake batter! Fun tip, right?
• Pour half the cake batter into the greased spring form pan.  Evenly distribute the roasted peaches into a single layer on top of the batter.  Spread the remaining batter on top and evenly distribute with a rubber spatula if necessary.

• Arrange the peach wedges on top, pressing gently to set them into cake batter.  Garnish with sliced almonds and raw or pearl sugar.

• Bake 50-60 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out barely clean.  Serve warm with a dollop of greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream.