Peachy Desserts
Today's post deals with yummy peach desserts. Check out the Southern Peaches with Pecan Shortbread, the Butterscotch Peaches and the rest of today's yumminess. Enjoy!
CLASSIC BISQUICK™ PEACH COBBLER
This is from Betty Crocker, and begins, "When it comes to ingredients, we believe less is more. Sometimes the simplest desserts turn out to be the most delicious; and this peach cobbler is the perfect example. With its warm, juicy filling of delicate peaches, cozied up under a buttery, golden topping, this easy peach cobbler recipe is a quick way to whip up a classic dessert that's positively bursting with decadent fruit flavor. It's perfect for a special occasion or a weekday treat, and it’s super easy to make thanks to Bisquick™ Original Pancake & Baking Mix."
Prep Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 30 minutes; Servings: 6
To view this online, click here. The link also has a lot of great information about cobblers and such. Check it out!
Ingredients
1 cup Bisquick™ Original Pancake & Baking Mix
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 can (29 ounces) sliced peaches, well drained
Directions
Heat oven to 375°F.
Stir together Bisquick™ mix, milk and nutmeg in ungreased 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish. Stir in melted butter until blended. In small bowl, stir together sugar and peaches; spoon over batter.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 30 minutes before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cobbler.
SOUTHERN PEACHES WITH PECAN SHORTBREAD
This is from the July/August 2004 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 48. It begins, "This recipe makes about 18 cookies." Makes 6 servings
To view this online, go to https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/southern-peaches-with-pecan-shortbread/.
Ingredients
Southern peaches
2 Tbs. granulated sugar, or to taste
1/8 tsp. salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Pecan shortbread
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Soft whipped cream
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
Preparation
To make Southern Peaches: Slice peaches, and put slices into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle slices with sugar, salt and lemon juice. Set aside, covered, at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a large baking sheet, and set aside.
To make Pecan Shortbread: Cream butter, flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl, using an electric beater, until dough is smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, and beat again. Stir in pecans. Pinch off a piece of dough, and roll into a 1-inch ball. Place on cookie sheet, and press flat with tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake cookies until golden but not brown, for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and, while still warm, sprinkle both sides with sugar. Set aside to cool.
To make Soft Whipped Cream: Put all ingredients into a chilled mixing bowl. Whip just until cream forms soft peaks, taking care not to overwhip. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
To serve, spoon portions of cut-up peaches on individual plates, place 2 cookies next to peaches and top with Soft Whipped Cream, if using.
BLUSHING PEACH PIE
This is from Betty Crocker, and begins, "...this rosy-colored, blushing peach pie dates back to at least 1968...
"What’s the secret ingredient that gives this peach pie its signature color and flavor? It’s red cinnamon candies. As they melt in the oven, they lend both their color and flavor to the homemade peach filling, for eye-catching and taste-tempting results.
Prep Time: 25 minutes; Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes; Servings: 8
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Pie Pastry
2 cups cup plus 2 tablespoons Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cold shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons ice-cold water
6 cups sliced fresh peaches (6 to 8 medium) or 3 bags (10 oz each) drained thawed frozen peaches
Pie Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup red cinnamon candies
2 tablespoons butter
Directions
Heat oven to 425°F.
In medium bowl, mix 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture forms coarse crumbs the size of small peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl.
Gather pastry into a ball. Divide dough in half and flatten into 2 rounds on lightly floured surface. Using floured rolling pin, roll one round on lightly floured surface (or pastry board with floured pastry cloth) into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths and place in pie plate. Unfold or unroll pastry and ease into plate or pan, pressing firmly against bottom and side and being careful not to stretch pastry, which will cause it to shrink when baked. Cover remaining pastry round; set aside.
In large bowl, mix all remaining ingredients except butter. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter.
Roll out second pastry round. Fold into fourths and place over filling, or roll loosely around rolling pin and place over filling. Unfold or unroll pastry over filling. Cut slits in pastry so steam can escape. Trim overhanging edge of top pastry 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold edge of top crust under bottom crust, forming a stand-up rim of pastry that is even thickness on edge of pie plate, pressing on rim to seal; flute edges. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strips of foil to prevent excess browning.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours.
BROWN BUTTER PEACH CUPCAKES
One of the email newsletters that I receive is from Delish. They find recipes from a variety of places; this comes from Chocolate With Grace, and starts, “Browned butter and peaches make these cupcakes with a tender, moist crumb perfect for summertime celebrations.” Serves: 18 cupcakes
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
3/4 cup butter
1 cup peach puree*
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups finely diced peaches
For the Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peach puree*
1 tsp vanilla
5-6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Brown the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove the butter from the heat and pour into a separate heat proof bowl to stop the browning. Cool completely.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Whisk together the brown butter, peach puree, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Gently stir into the large bowl along with diced peaches, mixing until just combined.
Fill lined cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until the spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely on wire racks.
To make the frosting, beat together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in peach puree and vanilla. Add enough of the powdered sugar until a piping or spreading consistency is reached. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
*To make Peach Puree, heat 3 cups of diced peaches, 1 T lemon juice, 1 T water and 1 T white sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool to a warm temperature. Blend in a blender until smooth. Cool completely before use.
BUTTERSCOTCH PEACHES
This is from Celia Barbour in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Celia wrote, “I make a peach-butterscotch sauce that I dreamed up to impress my children, whose love for me, though unwavering, I am nonetheless constantly trying to cement with food. The result was delectable. We ate the sauce straight from the pot. We ate it from the serving dish. And we ate what was left for dessert that night, poured over Ronnybrook vanilla ice cream with chewy gingersnaps from Hawthorne Valley on the side. My children’s adoration of me was unaffected by the butterscotch, but their energy level definitely got a boost from all the sugar.” Yield: 4 to 6 servings; Time: 1 hour.
This was featured in “Ode to the Peach: A Cook Baffled, and Then at Peace” and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
6 medium or 5 large ripe peaches
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Vanilla ice cream
Almond biscotti, gingersnaps or other cookies
Preparation
Fill a large bowl with ice and water, and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place peaches in boiling water for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice water. When cool, drain and pat dry.
Working over a bowl to catch the juice, peel skins from peaches, squeezing as much juice as possible from the skins. Slice each peach into 10 to 12 slices, and set aside with juice; discard skin and pits.
In medium skillet over low heat, melt butter. Raise heat to medium-high and cook butter until it foams, subsides, foams again and begins to brown. As soon as butter is nut-brown, add the peaches with juices. Sauté 2 to 3 minutes, then place skillet over low heat to keep warm.
In medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine cream, sugar, honey and salt. Place over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely melted. Raise heat to medium and let boil without stirring until it turns a rich golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. (Because of honey and cream it will appear to turn pale brown before it has caramelized; wait until it has darkened noticeably, thickened and reduced before proceeding.) Carefully pour contents of skillet into saucepan; it will boil and spatter; stir to combine. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Add vanilla or other flavoring. Serve warm or at room temperature over ice cream, with cookies on the side.
PEACH UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
This is from Melissa Clark in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Melissa wrote, "Upside-down cakes are easy, adaptable and beautiful no matter what kind of fruit you use. This one calls for any kind of summer stone fruit — peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums — whatever looks ripe and juicy. Caramelizing the brown sugar in a skillet before adding the fruit gives it all a particularly deep, complex flavor. Because of the moisture in the topping, you’ll need to bake this cake a little longer than other, similar butter cakes. Underbaked cake will be soggy and apt to fall apart, but an ideal result will have a well-browned surface and dark, slightly crunchy edges."
Total Time: 1 hour, plus cooling; Yield: 1 (10-inch) cake
This was featured in "Take Your Cakes to the Upside Down," and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023374-peach-upside-down-cake. While you're at it, if you haven't already signed up for The New York Times cooking enewsletter, I highly recommend doing so. Great recipes, guides, and more.
Ingredients
For the Fruit Topping
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (see Tip)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 cups sliced ripe but firm peaches, or use 3 cups sliced nectarines, plums or apricots (about 1-1/4 pounds before pitting)
For the Cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream or plain whole-milk yogurt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Preparation
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the topping: In an oven-safe 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice and salt, and whisk until the brown sugar melts, 1 to 2 minutes.
Let cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to smell like caramel and darkens slightly, about 1 minute longer. (Don’t walk away or the mixture may burn.) The mixture will clump and separate, but that’s OK.
Add fruit, gently tossing to coat with the caramel. Remove from the heat and arrange fruit into an even layer on the bottom of the skillet. Ignore any sugar clumps; they will dissolve during baking.
Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and whisk until well mixed. Sprinkle in baking powder, salt and baking soda into the batter, one at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in flour until just incorporated. The mixture will be lumpy, but that’s OK. Don’t overmix. Scrape batter into the skillet over the fruit and spread evenly.
Bake until surface is deeply browned all over (with darker brown edges) and the fruit is lightly bubbling around the sides of the skillet, about 35 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. A toothpick inserted into cake will come out clean.
Once the cake is out of the oven, immediately run a butter knife or offset spatula around the edge of the skillet. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool slightly. Carefully invert cake into serving platter. If some fruit sticks to bottom of skillet, gently remove using offset spatula or knife and place back onto cake. Let cake cool until the fruit topping sets, at least 30 minutes to 1 hour, before serving. Cake is best served on the day it is baked.
Tip
Since you’ll need the lemon juice for the topping and the grated zest for the cake, it’s best to zest the lemon before you cut it and juice it.
CLASSIC BISQUICK™ PEACH COBBLER
This is from Betty Crocker, and begins, "When it comes to ingredients, we believe less is more. Sometimes the simplest desserts turn out to be the most delicious; and this peach cobbler is the perfect example. With its warm, juicy filling of delicate peaches, cozied up under a buttery, golden topping, this easy peach cobbler recipe is a quick way to whip up a classic dessert that's positively bursting with decadent fruit flavor. It's perfect for a special occasion or a weekday treat, and it’s super easy to make thanks to Bisquick™ Original Pancake & Baking Mix."
Prep Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 30 minutes; Servings: 6
To view this online, click here. The link also has a lot of great information about cobblers and such. Check it out!
Ingredients
1 cup Bisquick™ Original Pancake & Baking Mix
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 can (29 ounces) sliced peaches, well drained
Directions
Heat oven to 375°F.
Stir together Bisquick™ mix, milk and nutmeg in ungreased 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish. Stir in melted butter until blended. In small bowl, stir together sugar and peaches; spoon over batter.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 30 minutes before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cobbler.
SOUTHERN PEACHES WITH PECAN SHORTBREAD
This is from the July/August 2004 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 48. It begins, "This recipe makes about 18 cookies." Makes 6 servings
To view this online, go to https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/southern-peaches-with-pecan-shortbread/.
Ingredients
Southern peaches
2 Tbs. granulated sugar, or to taste
1/8 tsp. salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Pecan shortbread
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Soft whipped cream
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
Preparation
To make Southern Peaches: Slice peaches, and put slices into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle slices with sugar, salt and lemon juice. Set aside, covered, at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a large baking sheet, and set aside.
To make Pecan Shortbread: Cream butter, flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl, using an electric beater, until dough is smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, and beat again. Stir in pecans. Pinch off a piece of dough, and roll into a 1-inch ball. Place on cookie sheet, and press flat with tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake cookies until golden but not brown, for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and, while still warm, sprinkle both sides with sugar. Set aside to cool.
To make Soft Whipped Cream: Put all ingredients into a chilled mixing bowl. Whip just until cream forms soft peaks, taking care not to overwhip. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
To serve, spoon portions of cut-up peaches on individual plates, place 2 cookies next to peaches and top with Soft Whipped Cream, if using.
BLUSHING PEACH PIE
This is from Betty Crocker, and begins, "...this rosy-colored, blushing peach pie dates back to at least 1968...
"What’s the secret ingredient that gives this peach pie its signature color and flavor? It’s red cinnamon candies. As they melt in the oven, they lend both their color and flavor to the homemade peach filling, for eye-catching and taste-tempting results.
Prep Time: 25 minutes; Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes; Servings: 8
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Pie Pastry
2 cups cup plus 2 tablespoons Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cold shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons ice-cold water
6 cups sliced fresh peaches (6 to 8 medium) or 3 bags (10 oz each) drained thawed frozen peaches
Pie Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup red cinnamon candies
2 tablespoons butter
Directions
Heat oven to 425°F.
In medium bowl, mix 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture forms coarse crumbs the size of small peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl.
Gather pastry into a ball. Divide dough in half and flatten into 2 rounds on lightly floured surface. Using floured rolling pin, roll one round on lightly floured surface (or pastry board with floured pastry cloth) into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths and place in pie plate. Unfold or unroll pastry and ease into plate or pan, pressing firmly against bottom and side and being careful not to stretch pastry, which will cause it to shrink when baked. Cover remaining pastry round; set aside.
In large bowl, mix all remaining ingredients except butter. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter.
Roll out second pastry round. Fold into fourths and place over filling, or roll loosely around rolling pin and place over filling. Unfold or unroll pastry over filling. Cut slits in pastry so steam can escape. Trim overhanging edge of top pastry 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold edge of top crust under bottom crust, forming a stand-up rim of pastry that is even thickness on edge of pie plate, pressing on rim to seal; flute edges. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strips of foil to prevent excess browning.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours.
BROWN BUTTER PEACH CUPCAKES
One of the email newsletters that I receive is from Delish. They find recipes from a variety of places; this comes from Chocolate With Grace, and starts, “Browned butter and peaches make these cupcakes with a tender, moist crumb perfect for summertime celebrations.” Serves: 18 cupcakes
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
3/4 cup butter
1 cup peach puree*
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups finely diced peaches
For the Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peach puree*
1 tsp vanilla
5-6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Brown the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove the butter from the heat and pour into a separate heat proof bowl to stop the browning. Cool completely.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Whisk together the brown butter, peach puree, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Gently stir into the large bowl along with diced peaches, mixing until just combined.
Fill lined cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until the spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely on wire racks.
To make the frosting, beat together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in peach puree and vanilla. Add enough of the powdered sugar until a piping or spreading consistency is reached. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
*To make Peach Puree, heat 3 cups of diced peaches, 1 T lemon juice, 1 T water and 1 T white sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool to a warm temperature. Blend in a blender until smooth. Cool completely before use.
BUTTERSCOTCH PEACHES
This is from Celia Barbour in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Celia wrote, “I make a peach-butterscotch sauce that I dreamed up to impress my children, whose love for me, though unwavering, I am nonetheless constantly trying to cement with food. The result was delectable. We ate the sauce straight from the pot. We ate it from the serving dish. And we ate what was left for dessert that night, poured over Ronnybrook vanilla ice cream with chewy gingersnaps from Hawthorne Valley on the side. My children’s adoration of me was unaffected by the butterscotch, but their energy level definitely got a boost from all the sugar.” Yield: 4 to 6 servings; Time: 1 hour.
This was featured in “Ode to the Peach: A Cook Baffled, and Then at Peace” and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
6 medium or 5 large ripe peaches
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Vanilla ice cream
Almond biscotti, gingersnaps or other cookies
Preparation
Fill a large bowl with ice and water, and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place peaches in boiling water for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice water. When cool, drain and pat dry.
Working over a bowl to catch the juice, peel skins from peaches, squeezing as much juice as possible from the skins. Slice each peach into 10 to 12 slices, and set aside with juice; discard skin and pits.
In medium skillet over low heat, melt butter. Raise heat to medium-high and cook butter until it foams, subsides, foams again and begins to brown. As soon as butter is nut-brown, add the peaches with juices. Sauté 2 to 3 minutes, then place skillet over low heat to keep warm.
In medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine cream, sugar, honey and salt. Place over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely melted. Raise heat to medium and let boil without stirring until it turns a rich golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. (Because of honey and cream it will appear to turn pale brown before it has caramelized; wait until it has darkened noticeably, thickened and reduced before proceeding.) Carefully pour contents of skillet into saucepan; it will boil and spatter; stir to combine. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Add vanilla or other flavoring. Serve warm or at room temperature over ice cream, with cookies on the side.
PEACH UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
This is from Melissa Clark in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Melissa wrote, "Upside-down cakes are easy, adaptable and beautiful no matter what kind of fruit you use. This one calls for any kind of summer stone fruit — peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums — whatever looks ripe and juicy. Caramelizing the brown sugar in a skillet before adding the fruit gives it all a particularly deep, complex flavor. Because of the moisture in the topping, you’ll need to bake this cake a little longer than other, similar butter cakes. Underbaked cake will be soggy and apt to fall apart, but an ideal result will have a well-browned surface and dark, slightly crunchy edges."
Total Time: 1 hour, plus cooling; Yield: 1 (10-inch) cake
This was featured in "Take Your Cakes to the Upside Down," and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023374-peach-upside-down-cake. While you're at it, if you haven't already signed up for The New York Times cooking enewsletter, I highly recommend doing so. Great recipes, guides, and more.
Ingredients
For the Fruit Topping
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (see Tip)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 cups sliced ripe but firm peaches, or use 3 cups sliced nectarines, plums or apricots (about 1-1/4 pounds before pitting)
For the Cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream or plain whole-milk yogurt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Preparation
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the topping: In an oven-safe 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice and salt, and whisk until the brown sugar melts, 1 to 2 minutes.
Let cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to smell like caramel and darkens slightly, about 1 minute longer. (Don’t walk away or the mixture may burn.) The mixture will clump and separate, but that’s OK.
Add fruit, gently tossing to coat with the caramel. Remove from the heat and arrange fruit into an even layer on the bottom of the skillet. Ignore any sugar clumps; they will dissolve during baking.
Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and whisk until well mixed. Sprinkle in baking powder, salt and baking soda into the batter, one at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in flour until just incorporated. The mixture will be lumpy, but that’s OK. Don’t overmix. Scrape batter into the skillet over the fruit and spread evenly.
Bake until surface is deeply browned all over (with darker brown edges) and the fruit is lightly bubbling around the sides of the skillet, about 35 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. A toothpick inserted into cake will come out clean.
Once the cake is out of the oven, immediately run a butter knife or offset spatula around the edge of the skillet. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool slightly. Carefully invert cake into serving platter. If some fruit sticks to bottom of skillet, gently remove using offset spatula or knife and place back onto cake. Let cake cool until the fruit topping sets, at least 30 minutes to 1 hour, before serving. Cake is best served on the day it is baked.
Tip
Since you’ll need the lemon juice for the topping and the grated zest for the cake, it’s best to zest the lemon before you cut it and juice it.
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