A buttery Peach Cake made using fresh peaches.
Ingredients
- 2 large peaches (approximately 240 grams), ripe but firm (see notes)
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 150 grams (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened, roughly chopped
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) full fat Greek yogurt
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) full fat or whole milk
- Icing sugar or powdered sugar, to serve, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
- Roughly chop peaches into slices (leaving skin on). I usually get around 5-6 slices per peach half. Set peach slices aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter and beat with an electric mixer on low speed, until the butter is broken into small pea-sized pieces and completely covered in flour.
- Add egg and vanilla while mix briefly on low speed to combine. Don’t worry if the mixture is dry and floury at this point.
- Add yogurt and milk. Start to beat on low speed and then turn up to medium speed for 30 seconds or until batter is creamy and smooth. It will be very thick – this is fine.
- Set aside 4 or 5 peace slices to decorate the top. Add remaining peach slices to the cake batter and gently stir using a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Transfer cake batter to prepared pan and smooth the top. Press extra peach slices into the top. Bake cake for approximately 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Carefully transfer cake to a wire rack to cool. After 10 minutes or so, carefully remove cake from pan and leave on wire rack to cool completely.
- Lightly dust the top of the cake with icing or powdered sugar, if using. Cut into slices to serve.
Notes
Peaches: This recipe has been tested using fresh peaches. It’s best to use ripe but firm peaches if you can. Too ripe and they will disintegrate and turn to mush. If you do try this cake with frozen peaches or canned peaches, please leave a comment below and let us know how it went.
Greek Yogurt: I recommend using a full fat Greek yogurt or natural-style yogurt. If you don’t have access to yogurt, you can use sour cream instead. Alternatively, you could use full fat buttermilk, but use 2/3 cup total (and omit the regular milk).
Icing sugar: This cake looks lovely with a dusting of icing sugar, also known as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar. It’s completely optional.
Traditional creaming method: If you prefer to make this cake using the traditional creaming method you can. Simply add caster sugar and softened butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat together using an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute or until pale and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and mix on medium speed until combined. Finally, add flour, baking powder, salt, milk and yogurt. Mix briefly until you have a thick and creamy cake batter. Then continue with the recipe above from step 6 onwards.
Serving suggestion: Serve on it’s own with a dusting of icing sugar, or alongside a dollop of freshly whipped cream or creme fraiche, with fresh berries or with a drizzle of Homemade Custard.
Make-ahead: Keep cake in an airtight container at room temperature. This cake is best served on the day that it’s made or the day after. To make it extra soft, you can microwave pieces for 15 seconds or so until warm. To make the cake ahead of time, considering freezing it (see below).
Freezer instructions: This Peach Cake freezes well. To serve, simply defrost cake at room temperature.
