Fourth of July

Simple Summer Peach Cake

by:
July 12, 2021
4.4
34 Ratings
Simple Summer Peach Cake
Photo by Ty Mecham
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Serves 8
Author Notes

This particular flavor combination comes from my childhood—on summer mornings, my mother would fix me a bowl of cut-up peaches with milk, sprinkled with sugar and a dusting of nutmeg. Although that's a pretty sublime combination, the flavors translate well to cake form. —Savour

Test Kitchen Notes

There's nothing like a beautiful, from-scratch cake to celebrate peak in-season fruit. That's why we had high hopes for this simple peach cake, and we definitely weren't disappointed. And we love Savour's note about childhood breakfasts that were served to her by her mother of peaches, milk, sugar, and nutmeg, which were the inspiration for this recipe. You really can't go wrong with that flavor combination, and it's the perfect way to use up ripe peaches and leftover almonds. Why not put it all together in cake form?

Your friends and family will fawn over this cake. It's chock-full of those wonderfully juicy peaches that taste best in the summertime, and the addition of ground almonds sets it apart from other simple butter cakes (you can also use almond flour too if you have some on hand). Using both vanilla and almond extracts also offers an extra layer of depth. It's luscious and a bit custardy in the areas surrounding the peaches, a texture that works when the cake is either warm or at room temperature. It's a great cake to take to a picnic or outdoor barbecue.

Feel free to arrange the peach slices on top of the cake however you'd like—neat or messy, you do you. The turbinado sugar helps tie everything together, so we suggest seeking some out if you're making this recipe. And don't be alarmed if the batter seems to curdle when you add the buttermilk, as it will come together again once you mix in the dry ingredients. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Simple Summer Peach Cake
Ingredients
  • 6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
  • 3 ripe peaches
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 cup almond flour or finely ground almonds
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 pinch turbinado sugar
Directions
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
  2. Cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces. In a medium bowl, toss the peaches with the nutmeg and 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the butter and remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix to combine.
  4. In another medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until smooth (some lumps may remain). Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
  5. Press the peaches into the top of the cake. They can be nicely arranged, but I like to cram as many peaches as possible into the cake. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the top.
  6. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and continue to bake for 45 to 55 minutes more, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
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  • aargersi
    aargersi
  • Karen Brooks
    Karen Brooks
  • penni_perkins_orlandini
    penni_perkins_orlandini
  • linda holly
    linda holly
  • Maryte
    Maryte
Savour
I'm a Los Angeles based home cook with a full time job and 2 young kids, so my recipes tend to be accessible to busy people. I firmly believe that anyone can cook good, everyday meals from scratch with sufficient tools and encouragement, and I try to create meals that are delicious, wholesome and not too intimidating. Most of my favorite recipes tend to be twists on a classic dish that makes it new and exciting.

Popular on Food52

146 Reviews

Urbain D.
Urbain D. August 24, 2024
Wonderful and easy cake to assemble. Mine came out with nice crunch top mainly around the border. I will be trying this base with other fruits! Delicious!
 
carlalacooks
carlalacooks October 25, 2023
This lovely cake is beyond peachy ~ I had an abundance of peaches ths summer so I sliced and froze them complete without peeling. I defrosted them slightly and pressed into the top of the batter and it was perfect. Since I'm unable to have dairy, I also made this dairy free by using MiYokos Unsalted vegan cultured butter along with Siggi's plant based plain vanilla yogurt slightly thinned for the buttermilk part. I did add a pinch of diamond kosher salt to the batter and also cut back substantially on the nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon, as 3/4 per the recipe was more than my slightly nutmeg averse tastebuds could manage. Moist, delicious, a perfect little cake. Highly recommend.
 
aargersi
aargersi April 5, 2023
Has anyone tried this cake using the reverse creaming method? I am wondering if it will stand up better to the fruit that way (I have made it loads of times and I love it but it can be a tad delicate when taking it out of the pan)
 
amandamuirhead@yahoo.ca
[email protected] August 25, 2022
This recipe is a favourite! I have used plums instead of peaches on occassion and also added cardamom to the batter. It's delicious slightly warm with some french vanilla ice cream. I would highly recommend this recipe!
 
Charles
Charles August 25, 2022
Thanks.
 
Karen B.
Karen B. August 24, 2022
This is my go to summer cake.It's great with peaches, as written. I've also made it with nectarines- no need to peel - and it's quite tasty. Also a strawberry variation: omit the nutmeg. Toss 1 lb. washed, hulled and halved strawberries with sugar to taste, 1 Tblsp chopped fresh mint and a squeeze of lime juice. Arrange on top of batter and proceed. I bake all three versions in a 9" springform pan.
 
Charles
Charles August 25, 2022
Thanks.
 
Urbain D.
Urbain D. August 24, 2024
Thanks for this option with strawberries - I was just getting ready to sub out the peaches with strawberries and omitting the nutmeg.
 
Charles
Charles August 8, 2022
Made this according to the recipe - omitting the turbinado sugar sprinkle because my sister doesn't have any (I baked it at her house). Everything turned out according to the recipe - used just under 3 good-sized peaches, the batter had some small lumps just as described, baked for 10 minutes at the higher temperature and 55 minutes at the lower temperature, and the cake turned out fine, attractive and appealing cake - my sister declared it to be "delicious". I baked this in a 9-inch spring-form pan (my sister's regular cake pans are either smaller or larger - no 9-inchers). This turned out to be advantageous since I didn't have to flip it out of the cake pan - with all of the fruit, I was concerned it might break apart if I flipped it over. I am going to use a spring-form pan when I make this at home.
 
Charles
Charles August 11, 2022
So, I made this at home with the same results. Shorter baking time because of the differences in ovens but I expected that. This is such an easy recipe and seemingly foolproof. I'm going to look for other fruit to try when peach season ends. Has anyone tried this with other fruit?
 
amandamuirhead@yahoo.ca
[email protected] August 25, 2022
I have made it with plums and that was delicious!
 
Denise
Denise October 15, 2021
Absolutely Devine and easy.
 
Joan
Joan August 19, 2021
I made this a few weeks ago and it was so delicious! My husband loved it, too! I have an abundance of fresh peaches and I asked him if he'd like a peach pie or the peach cake...he said, "Oh, that peach cake, please!" This would be good to slice and freeze also! Thank you Food 52!
 
Central P.
Central P. August 4, 2021
Made this today with BRMill gluten free flour Increased the flour to 1.5 cups + 1/2 cup almond flour and egg replacement. Only use 1/2 cup monk fruit sweetener. This took over 1.5 hours to bake.! I turned up the oven temp to 350 after 55 minutes. It’s still too wet and gloopy in the center. Very disappointed in the outcome. If I make it again I’ll bake at 350°. Not 325°. Such a waste of ingredients and time. I think Amanda had too much beer when she prepared this one. Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean.
 
Mardee
Mardee August 4, 2021
It always amazes me when people change the recipe a lot, and then complain when it doesn’t turn out the way it should. I made it exactly as written and it was delicious. Everything worked well, including the timing.
 
Central P.
Central P. August 4, 2021
Hi Mardee, I’ve been adapting recipes to suit my gluten-free plant based diet for over 15 years. I know what works and how to tweak a recipe. I’m a private chef. If you read the other comments, others have said it came out wet & took longer to bake also, and they followed the recipe as written. I do know the humidity effects a baked item I should have followed my instincts and baked at a higher temperature, that’s why I posted my changes, perhaps some may learn from it. Here’s to experiential Happy baking!
 
Deborah
Deborah July 3, 2022
Ditto, this is one of my favorite recipes of all time. I’m GF too, and I just swap the flour for King Arthur Measure for Measure 1:1 and it comes out perfect. Fear not, fellow celiacs! :)
 
Charles
Charles August 2, 2022
You may consider yourself an accomplished "private chef" but the fact remains that you substantially deviated from the recipe and the results were "disappointing". Don't slander the recipe presenter because your experiment failed.
 
Linda
Linda August 3, 2021
I followed the recipe as written, although I used slightly less than 3 whole peaches. The flavor was good but the baking time took much longer. I think the problem is that if you mix the peaches with sugar and let it stand, lots of juice comes out of the peaches. I did not add all the juices, but the mixture was very juicy. It would be better to simply sprinkle sugar over the peaches just before you slide in the oven. Not sure if you need to reduce the oven temperature.
 
Amy
Amy August 17, 2024
I think Linda's is a very good suggestion. I've often been confounded to find my carefully sugared fruit swimming in its own juices when a recipe instructed me to "toss fruit & sugar and SET ASIDE." I've learned to either put it in the refrigerator right away until the fruit is added to the batter, or wait until the batter is ready and THEN toss the fruit and sugar.
(this is a magnificent peach recipe -- one of the very best!)
 
BeverlyW
BeverlyW August 2, 2021
Yummy!!! Thanks for the suggestion to use 1.5 c AP flour for those lacking almond flour. I sprinkled a little brown sugar on top instead of turbinado. And, as also suggested in the comments, I used a large deep dish glass pie pan and baked at 350°F for about 45 min. Really good - I'll be using this recipe again, and riffing on it with other fruits. Kind of cobbler-like, we really enjoyed this for dessert tonight!
 
GayleK70
GayleK70 July 26, 2021
I had three gorgeous peaches and this simple recipe. Results were delicious! Followed instructions exactly which were very accurate. Warmed up in 300 degree oven for about 20 minutes the next day. Served with vanilla ice cream…outstanding!
 
penni_perkins_orlandini
penni_perkins_orlandini July 25, 2021
Took about an hour and a half to bake. The inside was very wet almost gloppy. I may have used too many peaches. Four total. It fell apart getting out of the pan. Looks awful but tasted very good hiding under home made vanilla ice cream.
 
Glutenfreegirl
Glutenfreegirl July 19, 2021
Tried this recipe out yesterday and made it gluten free. Instead of all-purpose flour I used King Arthur gluten free flour. It was delicious! It took a while to bake it though – about 1.5hrs. It was still wet inside after 55 min so I continued to bake. Came out perfect. The only thing I would change is a little less sugar next time. Thank you!
 
Maryte
Maryte July 19, 2021
I am gluten free now, too. I will try what you did as well. I agree about the sugar. I do not put sugar in the peaches and add a little less in the batter.
 
Deborah
Deborah August 2, 2022
Hi! I have great success making this GF with a 1:1 swap for KAF Measure for Measure. I find this does not affect baking time/temp as long as you give the fruit a good strain post-maceration to really get all the liquid out. Just fwiw, best of luck! :)
 
Jillian
Jillian July 17, 2021
I've made this cake twice. The first time, while delicious, it was a gloppy mess. The second time I made it, I didn't bother turning the oven down to 325° and just kept it baking at 350° for 63 minutes and it is absolutely perfect. I'm not sure why one would drop the temperature on a cake like this but it definitely did not work for me.
 
linda H.
linda H. July 12, 2021
Used nectarines and cherries. No nutmeg so I used pumpkin pie spice hehe. This cake is heaven!
 
Becky M.
Becky M. July 12, 2021
Would this cake freeze well?
 
Denise
Denise July 11, 2021
WOW!!! I just made this and went exactly by the recipe. It’s outstanding and the smell is divine. I live in Alabama so our peaches are in full season and delicious.
I used a fluted deep dish pie pan, which made it absolutely lovely.
I did throw a few fresh blueberries on top too.
I can’t even tell you how incredible this is.
I’ll be serving this one to impress my guest!!! I wish I could figure out how to send a photo.
 
Calle
Calle January 17, 2021
I also had high hopes for this cake and was not disappointed! Especially because I really botched it... I somehow managed to forget the almond flour and poured everything back in to mix it in, at which point the peaches got mixed in as well. Created the most delicious custard-y bites and some fantastic edges. Would like to try it with strawberries, blackberries, and maybe rhubarb next time
E!
 
Moffetem
Moffetem September 5, 2020
Baked this cake in an 8 x 2-inch pan yesterday. It did not spill over, fit the pan perfectly. It did take the entire baking time. I live on the west coast. Cake was moist and flavorful. My family loved it, so much so, that it is completely gone this morning! Next time I make it I will line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper so that it comes out of the pan more easily. I like the suggestions of making it with other fruits, especially rhubarb when it is in season.