Peach (or Blueberry) Cake from Our Community Table

Summer is on my mind. As the weather gets warmer and the flowers start to bloom, I find myself thinking about all things summer. And one of the true joys of summer is surely fresh produce. You simply can’t compare the fresh fruits and vegetables in season to the versions we have for much of the year. 

Making a cake with fruit when it is in season and at its best is ideal. If you go fruit-picking over the summer, this recipe is a good way to use up some of your fruit. We like to pick at least some type of fresh fruit every year. We return home with a bountiful crop and have to figure out what to do with the excess fruit. Peaches and blueberries freeze well, as do many of the recipes in which they are used. After a day of peach picking, we will find ourselves eating a lot of peaches and enjoying peach cake, compote, sorbet, etc. I even made peach ice cream once.

This cake recipe is my favorite peach cake. I offered the option of using blueberries in place of the peaches. In truth, you could substitute other fruits as well. I imagine that apples would work nicely. If I were to make this recipe with apples, I would first sauté the apple slices in a bit of oil with a small amount of sugar and cinnamon to soften them and bring out their flavors. But it would be fine with thinly sliced baking apples of any sort.

Note: This cake should be baked in a true 8” pan. Many disposable aluminum pans we often use are not true to size. The disposable square cake pans are considerably smaller than 8”. If you use such a pan, it will be a bit small for the cake. There is another option. I have baked the cake in a 7x11” pan. This will make a shorter cake and will require a shorter baking time.   

Deena Abraham
Community Contributor

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Peach (or Blueberry) Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium peaches or 1 ½ c. blueberries

• 2 Tbsp. sugar

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 2 eggs

• 1 c. sugar

• ½ c. oil

• 1 ½ c. flour

• ½ tsp. salt

• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder

• 2 Tbsp. orange juice

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling over the top

DIRECTIONS

1. Slice the peaches. Place fruit in a bowl with two tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Toss to coat.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Mix in the cup of sugar and the oil.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.

4. Stir about half of the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Then, mix in the orange juice and vanilla. Mix in the remaining flour mixture.

5. Grease a true 8” square pan. Pour half of the batter into the pan. Spread the fruit on top of the batter. Top with the remaining batter.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. If desired, sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the top of the cake when it is cool.