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.

Comments

Mary Bergfeld said…
I'll bet it was delicious. Peaches are so abundant now that it's nice to a have a bunch of recipes that use them.
Pearl said…
looks beautiful and delicious!
Jenn said…
This summer has been really great for peaches and nectarines. I need to stock up on some this coming weekend. Cake looks awesome!!!
Denise said…
It looks so good. I saw it on Reenis blog as well. Just a little vanilla ice cream, please.
Ingrid_3Bs said…
It's late but I just took out my peaches and stick of butter! It looks easy and good though I'm thinking it needs a glaze or perhaps some ice cream!

I'll let ya know!
~ingrid
Lara said…
I'm loving this beautiful DC weather too! Your cake looks delicious and perfect for fall!
Oh it looks so good to me. The nectarines have been wonderful this year too. Thanks for sharing, I'll give it a try.
Reeni said…
I'll bet it was yummy anyways! It would be good with other fruit - I think I'm going to try it with pears next. I'm so glad you tried it.Thanks for the shout-out!
Monica H said…
75 degrees and no humidity- it sounds perfect. as does this cake.
Jennifer said…
Hurray I love it, I just made a fresh peach upside down cake yesterday! Yours looks like one to test next@
Anonymous said…
Looks lovely! I'll bet the aroma filled the house and everyone just rushed down with hunger pains!
Emily said…
I think the cake looks delicious. I haven't made anything with nectarines this year. :( I see you made the peach pecan pie! I judged that pie in the contest. It was yummy.
teresa said…
this looks like the perfect way to prolong the summer, delicious!
Cassie said…
Yum, that looks delicious!! I hope the Farmer's Almanac is wrong about this winter, because my son is due in January and I really don't want to have to fight crappy weather to get to the hospital!
Acorn to Oak said…
Yum! That looks sooo good! I can't wait for cooler weather here so I can start baking. It's been insanely hot in Southern California for the past two weeks...100's in the day and 80's and 90's at night...Crazy! I think that's why I love fall so much...it's such a relief from heat and quick/not much cooking meals necessary to keep the house cool. Can't wait to do more cooking...and eating!
Anonymous said…
A beautiful summer cake with nectarines, delicious!
noble pig said…
I could see where lots of fruit would go well here, very nice.
I bet this didn't last long at your house! I've been hearing snow rumblings too, but I'll have to see it to believe it.
NKP said…
Oooh, bad winter. I hope it's not that way here!
I love nectarines, even more than peaches. Looks great!
Yum! I still need to make a peach cake before the season runs out.
Talita said…
Yummy, yummy! I love nectarine!
Juliana said…
Wow, this cake looks so delicious...I can only imagine the taste of it...yummie :-)
Ingrid_3Bs said…
Debbie! I made this tonight and it was awesome. I did tweak it a bit. I left out the almond extract and added some cinnamon and cardamom along with your nutmeg to the batter. YUM! The kids ateit with powdered sugar sprinkled on top and I had ice cream on mine! Thanks for sharing!
~ingrid