Peach Kuchen

Kuchen is German for cake. I saw a recipe for it on allrecipes.com but it used canned peaches. Why use canned when fresh peaches are still available? So I searched until I found another recipe. This one comes from the Jackson Rose Bed and Breakfast. After mixing, the cake batter is covered with a layer of peaches. During baking, the batter rose and covered the peaches so that it became a filling. I'm not sure this was the intended effect as there were no photographs to go with the recipe. This cake should be served from the cake pan rather than removed as I had done.

Have all ingredients at room temperature. It is best to position the rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and grease one 9x2 inch cake pan or one 8 inch square pan. I used a 9 inch spring form cake pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Set aside the flour mixture. In another large bowl, beat
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup superfine sugar

Add 2 large eggs one at a time. Beat until just blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading batter evenly.

Scatter on top
2 cups fresh peaches (about 3 large peaches or 6 medium), peeled and cut into wedges
According to ehow.com, blanching peaches for 5 minutes in boiling water will remove the skins. Not so. Not all the skin came off.  I also found it was easier to just cut the peach off the stone rather than trying to remove it. Slice the fruit into wedges. Drain the fruit well. Scatter the cut fruit in a single layer on top of the cake batter.

Combine and sprinkle over fruit
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Imagine my surprise when the peach layer "disappeared" underneath the batter. That's why photos are so important for recipes that could be unfamiliar to other bakers.

I unmolded the cake and put it in a plate. It was too delicate for such rough treatment.

The result was a tad overmixed but it was lightly sweet and slightly crisped on the outside. This cake would also be good with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning!