This is an American recipe from The New York Times which I thought looked delicious and very apt for this time of year. It’s light but lovely and dense with a lovely marzipan flavour. Very easily made with the help of the food processor and easy peasy to dress up with cream and fruit. Would also work well with berries, nectarines, plums or poached pears.
Serves: 10-12 servings
Time: 1.5 hours plus cooling
280g softened unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
128g all purpose flour, plus more for the pan
125g ground almonds
125g icing sugar, plus more for serving
6 large eggs plus 1 egg white, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
250g granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Sliced peaches, for serving
Whipped cream or creme fraiche, for serving
Heat oven to 170 c. Butter and lightly flour a 9 or 10 inch springform pan.
Place almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add egg white, almond extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt and process until it all forms a paste.
Add granulated sugar to the food processor and pulse until everything is well combined and crumbly. Add butter and vanilla, and continue processing until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the machine running, add eggs one at a time, processing until smooth between eggs.
Stop the machine, scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and add flour, baking powder and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Pulse a few times, until dry ingredients are just integrated. Be careful not to over process.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. This is around 60-70 minutes for a 10 inch pan and 70-80 minutes for a 9 inch pan.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cake cool completely before unmolding and serving.
Put the peach slices in a bowl and taste a slice. If they seem tart, sprinkle peaches with a little icing sugar.
Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with icing sugar. You can serve slices of the cake with the peaches and cream on the side or dollop some cream or creme fraiche on top of the cake and top with the peaches before cutting.
Will keep for 2 days well wrapped at room temperature or 5 days in the fridge.
As always beautifully styled and propped by Claire Morgan.