Summer Peach Cake (Cook’s Illustrated)

It’s the height of peach season in Ontario, with the 3L cardboard baskets appearing in markets everywhere. For a dinner we were invited to on Saturday, I contributed a summery cake made with, you guessed it, peaches.

Summer Peach Cake

The recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated magazine, July 2011. Their technique of ensuring a non-gummy filling requires that you roast the fruit in the oven. This drives off moisture, and causes them to shrink considerably. A sprinkle of panko (!) further helps to absorb any syrupy residue.

Summer Peach Cake

As for the cake itself, the batter can be made completely by hand with a whisk, so it couldn’t be much easier. Note that the layer of batter will be quite thin, just barely covering the roasted peaches. I skipped the almond-sugar topping; a sweet, crunchy topping would distract from the fruit’s sweet-tart contrast.

Summer Peach Cake

This cake was excellent: sturdy enough to hold up to the generous quantity of peach chunks, with a pleasing amount of fruit in each forkful. The extra effort in preparing the peaches is worth it.

Leave a comment