Peach Cake - I've Returned and Brought You a Present
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 9:04AM I apologize for leaving you and for neglecting this poor little blog of mine. I just haven't felt up to the task. I'm forcing mysel to write again.
I'm not feeling great...very tired, very weak. I'm waiting for the infusions to start. My ten percent co-pay for the first round is over two thousand dollars...so, you see that's twenty thousand total just for the start. It's ridiculous. I pay six thousand per year for my health insurance coverage, almost all for my prescriptions and now I'm restarting this infusion stuff. I really wish I could just die and get it over with. The people who don't want a national healthcare have never had an expensive illness. You can't see me. my hands, my struggles etc.; I'm a mess and sometimes it's all quite exhausting. I thank whomever or whatever being in charge that the mind is the last to go.
Husband came home with peaches, gorgeous peaches. A whole lot of gorgeous peaches. I needed comfort food. Just yesterday my Gourmet magazine came and I was perusing this morning. For the past forty years my mother tried to recreate my grandmother's apple cake. She never got it quite right. Hers was always dry and tough. I saw a recipe in Gourmet for a simple nectarine cake. I don't know why, but as soon as I read the recipe and looked at the magazine photo I "knew" it was the apple cake recipe, but with nectarines.
Husband peeled and sliced the peaches for me. I've saved the stone. When I was a llittle girl, my grandfather would carve a little handled basket out of the peach stone and I'd wear it on a string around my neck.
This cake is very very simple to make. It is THE cake my grandmother made. Any fruit will do I am sure. I cried when I ate the first bite. I have no grandmother. I have no mother. I baked the cake to comfort myself. We had no dinner...just the cake. A simple comfort needs to stand alone. I love my husband.
Nectarine Golden Cake
- Active time:15 min
- Start to finish:1 1/2 hr
- 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, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (I used 2 very very large peaches)
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
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Equipment:
a 9-inch springform pan
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Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Lightly butter springform pan. (Use butter!!!! It's not going to kill you and is what gives the wonderful tast to the batter and fruit)
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Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
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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.
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Spread batter evenly in pan, then scatter nectarines over top. Stir together nutmeg and remaining 1/2 Tbsp sugar (OK, I upped the vanilla and the almond extract AND I really upped the sugar/nutmeg mixture...1/4 cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon nutmeg) 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 50 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove side of pan and cool to warm
** Note to UK readers. Unlike most Americans, I have a convection oven (fan oven to you). I can never bake again in a regular oven. It's barbaric. My stove automatically will convert standard bake time and temperature to convection/fan temperatures. For this cake it baked at 300 degrees (150C, gas mark 2 to you Brits et al) for 43 minutes.
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