Peach season is here, and to me that means peach salads, jams, cobbler, and simple, summery cakes like this one.
Peaches are one of my favorite fruits. this might be in part to their elusiveness. they are in season for a mere month or two up here in connecticut, and that is the only time i eat them through the year. unlike apples or pears for instance, in season peaches are miles away from out of season peaches. so when the end of july comes i always get excited for my long awaited friends to make their appearance at the markets.
This cake has a lovely base made of all purpose flour (I use King arthur’s gluten free flour that I buy in bulk at costco), almond flour, just enough fragrant cardamom to provide warmth, butter and almond milk. because of this, it is gluten free with an easy dairy free option should you use vegan butter.
These types of cakes are my most favorite kind to make and eat. they are easy to throw together and quite casual though they look impressive.
The base of this cake provides an invitation to all sorts of fruits and can be adapted to include plums, strawberries, apples, and pears, making it a great go-to cake to make year round.
“what else can I use?”
If you are not gluten free, swap in the same amount of your favorite all purpose flour for the gluten free blend called for.
whole cow’s milk can be subbed in for the almond milk here. Oat or other plan based milks should also work well.
i quite like the subtle warmth of the cardamom in this cake, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can certainly omit it.
If you make this Peach Picnic Cake, and I hope you do, i want to hear from you! send me a message on instagram, or post a photo to your stories and tag me so I can share your creations. enjoy!
Peach Picnic Cake (Gluten Free)
Equipment
- 1 9 or 10 inch pie plate
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup all purpose GF flour blend (such as King Arthur or Cup 4 Cup)
- 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 3/4 cup raw cane sugar or granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or regular cow's milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 lb ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
- 2 tbsp demera or granulated sugar for topping before baking
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 9 inch deep dish pie pan or 10 inch regular pie pan with nonstick spray. You can also use a round cake pan of the same size.
- In a large bowl, whisk flours, Baking powder, cardamom, and salt with a fork.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer or a large bowl with handheld mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat for 10 seconds or until just combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix together by hand until just smooth.
- Pour mixture into the prepared pie pan.
- Arrange peach slices on top of the batter in concentric circles, working your way all over the cake until all of the slices are used. You will need to overlap a bit to fit them all in.
- Top the peaches with the remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar.
- Bake cake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 Degrees F and bake cake until golden on top and the tester comes out just clean, about 45-55 minutes.
- Let cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes before turning it out onto a plate, flipping back over, and continuing to cool.
- Serve warm or at room temperature by itself or with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
