peach ring cake

For the past few months, whenever I walked into my neighborhood Asian market for fruits and vegetables, I was greeted by almost floor to ceiling crates of mangoes, bags of lychees and baskets of peaches.  So colorful and fresh, that sometimes while driving by I would stop and go in just to look at all the gorgeous summer produce.  But yesterday, the mangoes were almost all gone as were the peaches and definitely no lychees in sight.  Perhaps the first signs of the change in seasons; even before the weather has started to cool down.

When still abundant, I had been buying peaches at least twice a week and as an added bonus, my neighbor’s peach tree had so much fruit that the branches were bending over with the weight.  And in keeping with an annual tradition between us, I would go over with a basket and pick peaches to my heart’s content.

Fruit so sweet and juicy that they were best enjoyed in their purest form – sometimes just biting into them over the sink so that the juices dribble down the chin.  And of course, I had to save some for the next favorite thing – baking!  Especially cakes made for having with an afternoon or maybe even a morning cup of tea or coffee.

A friend was also visiting from India and peaches are her favorite fruit, so I had the perfect excuse to bake this cake.  Since it was for tea and I was keeping things very minimal with just tea and cake, I wanted it to make a pretty picture.  So instead of adding the batter directly into the ring pan, I arranged some peach slices at the bottom and when it came off the pan, it was quite the stunner with a taste to match!  Along with vanilla, I had added a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia which took it to a whole new level.  A little bit of that amazing liquid goes a long way and it also lasts for several years when stored in the fridge.  I use it to flavor all kinds of baked goods and I cannot recommend it enough.  If you don’t want to bother with it, simply use some lemon zest instead.

I have been dragging my heels for posting the recipe and as I type this, apples have started to show up quite frequently on much of the social media.  So if you cannot get a hold of good, ripe peaches or other stone fruit anymore, feel free to use slices of apples or pears instead.  It will still make for a pretty picture 🙂

Peach Ring Cake

Print Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cook oats (you can use almond flour or all-purpose flour if you like)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar (I used raw sugar)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
4 medium ripe peaches
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
4-5 drops of Fiori di Sicilia or 1/2 tbsp lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease & flour a ring pan and sprinkle 1 tbsp of sugar in the bottom.

Add the flour, oats, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse it 2-3 times.  Keep aside.  If using almond or all-purpose instead of oats, just mix everything in a bowl.

Slice enough of the peaches so as to cover the bottom of the ring pan.  You can arrange them just next to each other and not overlapping too much.  Chop the rest of them and keep aside.

Beat the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until it turns light and fluffy.  Then add the eggs one by one until all incorporated.

Add the yogurt, vanilla, fiori di sicilia and mix until all is mixed in.

Add about 1/3 of the flour at a time to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until it just disappears into the mixture.  Do not over mix.  Add the other 1/3 and the chopped peaches and stir well.  Then add the final third of the flour until it just disappears into the mix and you don’t see any flour.   the batter will be a little thick.

Pour it over the sliced fruit and smooth the top.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted in comes out clean.  Depending on your oven, the baking time might vary a bit so start watching it from about 35 minutes.

Cool for about ten minutes on a wire rack and take it off the pan and let it cool completely before slicing.

* Note –  Its a bit more work but instead of sprinkling the sugar in the pan in the beginning, you can sprinkle it on the top of the cake when you remove it from the pan.  Then place it under a broiler for a 3-4 minutes until the sugar starts to melt and caramelize.