This peach cake is easy enough to make on a weeknight, light tasting, and full of sweet, juicy peaches. It's got sugar in it, but far less than in many rich desserts. A little yogurt and canola oil take the place of butter. You can use fresh peaches in the cake (3-4 medium peaches should be plenty), but I usually don't. In fact, the ones from a large can work just fine and actually bake better than the fresh ones. So this cake is great for an out-of-season "peach urge" or when fresh peaches are prohibitively expensive. A light batter is crowned with peaches, baked, and then drizzled with a spiced glaze. I use rum extract in my glaze, which complements the sweet peaches and gives a wonderful, buttery note to the dessert, but you can substitute vanilla extract, if you'd prefer. The cake is great "as is," or you can try it with whipped cream or ice cream alongside. Enjoy!
Simple Peach Cake -- Serves 8
1/2 cup of fat-free plain yogurt
1/2 cup of canola oil
3/4 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of butter flavoring
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 large can (28-30 ounces) of sliced peaches, drained but reserve the juice
1/2 cup of pecan halves (or chopped pecans, if you'd prefer)
Glaze
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 cup of the reserved peach juice (or use water if you've used fresh peaches)
1 teaspoon of rum extract
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
1 teaspoon of butter (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spritz an 8- or 9-inch spring-form pan with non-stick cooking spray, line it with parchment (optional, but it makes it a lot easier to get the cake out), and spritz the parchment with the non-stick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together well the yogurt, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and butter flavoring. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Arrange the drained peaches on top of the batter in circular patterns. Just focus on covering the batter evenly. You don't need to be too artsy, as the peaches will sink into the batter and not show much. Sprinkle on the nuts. Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. In a microwave-safe bowl or measure, combine all the glaze ingredients. Microwave the glaze for about 2 minutes, stirring it every 15-30 seconds, until it boils. Pour the hot glaze over the warm cake. Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.
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