Au Revoir Cake Slice Bakers

It has been a pleasure baking with the Cake Slice Bakers the past year, allowing me to find a number of new-to-me and wonderful blogs, and also to try some really nice cakes.

My favorite was the Coffee-Heath Bar Crunch Cake we made in February, but I also enjoyed the first recipe I tried...Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake. Sweetie's favorite was the Cranberry Cake we baked in December, with extra almonds due to a senior moment of mine. This month's opportunity to choose our own recipe was great!

Since it is the height of peach season with luscious ripe peaches easily available I did change the fruit from nectarines to peaches. I love nutmeg with peach so I left out the cinnamon and used nutmeg instead. This was my second favorite of all the cakes we have baked...warm peaches, a moist, vanilla scented cake and spicy-nutty topping made an outstanding combination. Do try it!
Please be sure to visit other Cake Slice Bakers this month to see what they have chosen, too. It's sure to be a delight. HERE is the blogroll for the links.

Next month the group will be baking from another cake book. I'm taking a break from the group for a while in order to devote more time to my studies. It turns out that InDesign is very complex and the class I'm taking requires some work so that I can learn the program as well as possible. You, dear reader, can still check in on the 20th of the month and see what the Cake Slice Bakers have been up to...I'll most likely be visiting their blogs myself to 'ooooh' and 'ahhhh' over their creations...using the same link as above.



Peach Cake with Nutmeg-Nut Topping
Adapted from a recipe in Cake Keeper Cakes
by Lauren Chattman

Topping:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar (Next time I would reduce it to 3/4 cup sugar)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Cake:
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (use 1/4 teaspoon if fruit isn't completely ripe)
1 cup sugar (again I would reduce to 3/4 cup sugar)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 medium ripe peaches, peeled, halved, pitted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch round springform pan.

Topping: Combine the sugar, nutmeg and nuts in a small bowl. Set aside.

Cake: Combine the flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the beaters once or twice. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Scrape the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Arrange the peaches, cut side down, on top of the batter. (I arranged sliced peaches on top of the batter...the peaches were so ripe that some parts had spoiled and had to be removed, so slices worked better).Sprinkle with the topping. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Release the sides of the pan (run a knife around the cake first if it might stick to the sides), and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom to a wire rack.

Cool completely, cut into wedges, and serve.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Now please go visit the other Cake Slice Bakers to see what they chose for this special month. Blogroll is HERE.