Nectarine Crumb Cake – A Sweet Summer Surprise
When it comes to stone fruit in the summer, it’s easy to think about making cobbler and pie. But have you ever tried a stone fruit cake? Like an upside down plum cake or a peach almond cake?
Cakes made with stone fruit are fabulous because stone fruit tends to be juicy, and the tender crumb of a cake is only enhanced with the fruits’ sweet juices.
Aside from plums and peaches, I love to bake with nectarines, and I’ll often do so by making this nectarine crumb cake.
This crumb cake is aromatic and comforting, and combines some of my favorite elements of both cake and pie.
This crumb cake can be made with any type of stone fruit, but I find it particularly easy to make with nectarines because they don’t need to be peeled. I simply slice the nectarines into wedges and discard their cores.
The nectarines can be scattered on top of the cake batter, or you can neatly arrange them in a radial pattern, which is what I like to do.
As the crumb cake bakes, the nectarines will be engulfed inside the cake batter. The nectarines won’t be completely hidden, but the cake batter will definitely rise above the fruit.
The crumb topping is what, of course, makes this crumb cake a crumb cake. You can skip the topping if you like, but it’s honestly my favorite part of the cake, so I wouldn’t advise it.
I love the difference in texture that it provides against the tender cake and the soft nectarine slices. The crumb topping is also a slight nod to pie or cobbler, which makes me feel like I’m getting the best of both worlds.
If you aren’t yet craving this crumb cake, then I can guarantee that about halfway through this cake baking, you will be. The scent of cinnamon and sweet nectarines wafting through the air will have you eagerly peeking through the oven window, anticipating the moment you can take the crumb cake out and dig right in!
Nectarine Crumb Cake
Moist and fluffy almond cake topped with sweet nectarine slices and a delectable crumb topping.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter, (1/2 cup) plus more for greasing pan, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 tbsp whole milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 nectarines, pitted and sliced into 1/4" wedges
for the streusel topping
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ground almonds
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
- 1-2 tbsp shaved almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush a 9-inch cake pan with about 1 tbsp of softened butter. Line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with parchment paper. Alternatively, use a springform pan, and grease with butter.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the granulated sugar and unsalted butter. Beat until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium speed. Follow with the almond extract, vanilla extract, and milk. Mix until combined well.
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Mix the batter on medium speed just until everything is mixed together.
- Use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl to incorporate any unmixed batter. Then, spread the batter out into your prepared cake pan. Arrange the nectarine slices in a radial pattern, placing the nectarines on top of the cake batter.
- In a medium bowl, mix the streusel ingredients: the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and ground almonds. Then drop in the cubed butter, and use your hands to crumble the butter and flour mixture together to create pea-size clumps. Sprinkle this mixture over the nectarines. Follow with the shaved almonds.
- Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden throughout and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake should also spring back to the touch when gently pressed down.
- Cool the cake for 20 minutes in the pan before gently nudging it out of the cake pan, or releasing the sides of the springform pan.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 8 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 358
Hi Beeta,
Just bought all the ingredients to make this late summer treat, but I’m confused about the amount of butter in the recipe.
It says “1 stick,” but also notes “1/2 cup”. 1 stick of butter is actually one cup of butter. So which amount is correct? Could you please clarify the butter— haha, no pun intended!
Hi Stacey! 1 stick of butter is 8 tbsp or 1/2 cup. The exception to this would be if you are using perhaps Costco butter blocks which are sometimes sold in 1 lb blocks.
Thank you! Yes, I went with the 1/2 cup of butter (4oz) and the cake came out beautifully. Very moist and delicious and so easy to make. I’m going to try it with other fruits as well.
Hi, love your recipes, but I live in the UK and you don’t seem to have the alternative metric facility anymore, so often have to do a bit of guesswork.
Hi Jane! Thanks for your comment. We sometimes have metric measurements for recipes where we’ve been able to test them and provide them, that’s why you may seem them offered for some recipes but not others. We try to avoid simply punching the measurements into an online calculator because we have found that there are sometimes some discrepancies, and we’d rather give a recipe measurement we know works for sure than steer anyone the wrong way. 🙂
I did like your recipe very much . It is the best thing for me for breakfast .
It has fruits and eggs all I need for breakfast .
Do u have any similar recipe using pears? I got every year a visit from over sea who loves
Pears . I run out of pear recipe for his lunch. Please help.
Hi Marie! Thank you for the kind words! I have a recipe for a pear cake to can try. It’s a saffron pear cake: http://www.monpetitfour.com/saffron-pear-cake/
There are various other pear recipes, both sweet and savory, in my recipe index (http://monpetitfour.com/recipes) for you to choose from. Or if you really enjoyed this recipe, you can always just use pear slices instead of nectarine. 🙂
A thousand times yes! This looks beautiful Beeta! And I just love your stunning photography!!
Thank you so much, Jess! You are so kind <3
This is DEFINITELY how I want to eat stone fruit, Beeta!! While I love a cobbler or a pie, I’d MUCH rather have crumb cake. Every day, all day! This one is just gorgeous, girlfriend! I love the big wedges of nectarine and the streusel topping!! So perfect for breakfast, dessert and every meal in between! Pinned! Cheers, dear! xo
Thanks, Cheyanne! You’e exactly right; this cake can be enjoyed any time of the day! XO