A lovely woman from Philadelphia emailed me the other day to
tell me she had made the Buttermilk Peach Coffee Cake from The Cake Book and loved it so much that she was determined to make
every recipe in the book. I told her to keep me posted on her
progress—I hope her
family likes cake!
Inspired by
my new friend in the City of Brotherly Love and the bounty of peaches that are
now in season, I decided to make the very same coffee cake the other day, and it was
as wonderful as I remember it to be. The cake has a tender
crumb (thanks to the
buttermilk) and a filling of juicy peaches and crumbly nut streusel. There’s
streusel on top, too, along with a drizzle of sweet white glaze. It’s an easy cake
to make – no need even to peel the peaches, just slice them thinly and layer
them over the batter. I won’t guarantee that you will be inspired enough to
make the rest of the cakes in The Cake Book, but do let me know if you are! I’ll
send you a prize of some sort (maybe).
Buttermilk Peach
Coffee Cake
From The Cake Book
by Tish Boyle (Wiley, 2006)
Makes one 9-inch cake, serving 10
Storage: at room temperature, covered with foil up to 2
days; refrigerated, up to 5 days
Crumb Topping and
Filling:
1 cup (4.3 oz/121 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (3.8 oz/108 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup (2 oz/57 g) slivered almonds, toasted
7 tablespoons (3.5 oz/100 g) unsalted butter, melted
Buttermilk Peach
Cake:
2 cups (8.5 oz/242 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks/6 oz/170 g) unsalted butter,
softened
1 1/4 cups (8.8 oz/250 g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk
1 heaping cup fresh or frozen peach slices, sliced 1/4-inch
thick (though frozen peach slices are peeled, it’s ok to leave the skin on
fresh peaches; if using frozen peach slices, slice them to 1/4-inch thickness
while frozen or slightly thawed)
White Drizzle Glaze:
1/2 cup (2 oz/57 g) confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more if needed
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the
oven to 350°F.
Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Dust the pan with flour
and set aside.
Make the Crumb
Topping and Filling:
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar,
cinnamon, salt, and almonds until well blended.
Add the melted butter and mix with a fork, stirring until the butter is
absorbed and the dry ingredients are uniformly moistened. Set aside the crumb
mixture.
Make the cake:
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder,
baking soda, and salt with a whisk until well-blended; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle
attachment, beat together the butter and granulated sugar at medium speed for 4
to 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and the egg yolk, one
at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape down the
sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in 3
additions alternately with the buttermilk in 2 additions.
5. Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and
smooth the top with a small, offset metal spatula. Sprinkle half of the crumb
topping evenly over the batter, breaking up any large lumps with your fingers. Arrange
a circle of the peach slices, overlapping them slightly, around the outer edge
of the pan, on top of the crumb filling. Arrange another circle of wedges in
the center. Spoon the remaining batter over the filling and smooth it into an
even layer, covering the filling. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top
of the cake.
6. Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick
inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Cover the cake with foil
during the last 15 minutes of baking if it is getting too brown.) Cool the cake
in the pan, set on a wire rack, for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the sides of the pan and cool the cake completely
before drizzling with glaze.
Make the glaze and
glaze the cake:
8. Using a rubber spatula, stir together all the ingredients
in a small bowl. Stir vigorously until the glaze is completely smooth.
9. Scrape the glaze into a parchment paper cone or small
sealable plastic bag (seal the bag and snip a tiny hole in one of the bottom
corners). Drizzle glaze onto cake and let set for 10 minutes before serving.
