Nectarine Golden Cake

The weather has just been beautiful here lately and it's putting me in the mood for fall. I wish it would stay like this all year. Unfortunately I read somewhere yesterday that the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a very severe winter. Frigid temperatures and lots of snow. Oh no! Snow is a bad word to me. I had enough of it growing up on Long Island to last me forever....This is my kind of weather, nice and cool in the evening and days of 65 to 70 degrees with no humidity! This is also the kind of weather that is great for baking. I don't particulary like baking when it's 90 degrees outside. I also have no talent when it comes to grilling. I just could never get the hang of it......

I've been taking advantage of all the delicious peaches still fresh in the stores. This is a peach cake that I found over at Reeni's blog. She originally found this in Gourmet. It's very good and easy to make. Reeni's cake looked much better and probably was. I made the mistake of thinking that it "looked" like there was enough fruit added after one large peach. Ha! It may have looked that way before it was baked but certainly not after. Will I ever learn to just trust a recipe? After it baked there was not nearly enough fruit in it. I will definitely use way more next time. I think this recipe also lends itself to using other fruits besides just nectarines and peaches. It's very versatile and I can picture it being great with blueberries too!

1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 nectarines (I used peaches), pitted and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg (you may want to cut this in half if you are not a big nutmeg fan)

Preheat oven to 350F with rack in middle. Lightly butter a 9-in springform pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in extracts. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in pan, then scatter nectarines over top. Stir together nutmeg and remaining 1/2 Tbsp sugar and sprinkle over top. Bake until cake is golden brown and top is firm but tender when lightly touched (cake will rise over fruit), 45 to 50minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove side of pan and cool to warm.