Roasted Peaches and Cream Cake

Roasted Peaches and Cream Cake

Summer peaches are among my absolute favorite fruits. I remember picking them up at roadside stands on the Niagara peninsula in Ontario during a family road trip as a kid when they were at their peak of sweetness and juiciness. I've been in love with them ever since and they are among my most preferred fruits for summer desserts too. My annual anticipation of baking my Perfect Peach Pie is one of the highlights of my culinary year. That one will have to wait a few weeks for Canadian peaches but with some quite good US peaches available in my local supermarket this week, I decided to try out this idea for a roasted peach compote used on a simple butter cake with vanilla whipped cream as a frosting.

The result was utterly delicious as some of my neighbors who were the lucky recipients of much of this cake can attest. The roasting of the peaches released their sweet juice and intensified the flavor. This would make a great summer celebration cake for occasions like Father's Day, Canada Day, the Fourth of July or any summer birthday.

Roasted Peaches and Cream Cake

Butter Cake

Grease two 8 or 9 inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
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Sift together and set aside:

• 1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour                                                                           
• 1/2  teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together well at high speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy :

• 2/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons good quality vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar 

Beat in, one at a time,

• 3 large eggs

Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with:

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

I always add dry ingredients in three divisions and liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 9 inch cake pans.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Roasted Peach Compote

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh peaches, peeled and diced large
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Toss all ingredients together in a glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for approximately half an hour. Thicken the compote by adding a slurry made by mixing together:

• 1/4 cup water
• 2-3 tbsp corn starch (depending on how much juice has been released from the peaches)

Return to the oven until the mixture is bubbling well and thickened. Allow to cool completely.

Vanilla Whipped Cream



Beat to firm peaks:

• 3 cups whipping cream
• 6 tbsp icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

To construct the cake:

Use a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off to pipe a 1/2 inch wide line of cream around the perimeter of the first layer of cake. This step is important because it will keep the peach filling from spilling out as you assemble the cake. Fill the center of the ring with peach compote and place the second layer of cake on top.

Frost the sides of the cake and pipe another border on the top and bottom of the cake. Fill the center of the top border with peach compote. Chill for several hours before serving.

As an alternative, you may find it easier to serve it as two separate single layer cakes.