Peach Almond Cake

This peach almond cake reminds me of Grandma’s warm embrace and infectious smile. It’s the cake you lounge on the sofa with as the afternoon sun tickles your cheek and spreads warmth all the way down to your toes.

Mark Twain once wrote, “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” I feel like most people, including myself, tend to dismiss this type of philosophy and instead pour our energy into creating grand plans, longing for “bigger and better.”

Rather than appreciate what we have, we create illusions in our heads of things we think will make us happy. The way I’ve always interpreted this particular quote from Twain is that we should pay attention to the small things in life and try to live with a mind that is free of fear, guilt, or constant planning.

A sleepy conscience is living in the moment so wholeheartedly that you’ve ceased to mull over the past and ceased to anticipate the future. You’re purely in the moment, in the now. Of course, living this way is easier said than done, but in recent years, I’ve actually put a lot of effort into meditating and practicing living my life in the present.

Most importantly, I’ve learned to take a deep breath and embrace what’s right in front of me, which at the moment is this fragrant peach almond cake. 

Peach Almond Cake

Cinnamon, fresh peaches, and toasted almonds come together to deliver a perfumed, delicate cake whose sweetness is subtle enough to pass as a meal for breakfast, but pleasurable enough to lose yourself in every single bite.

While the cake batter can be made with almost any fruit (like nectarines), there’s something particularly gratifying about this cake when it’s paired with peaches. I think it’s because preparing this cake with peaches is a delight in itself.

As I ran my knife through the thin, yet distinctive, velvety skin of the peaches, I could feel the juices running down my wrist and onto my sleeve. I tried to catch the juices on their way down, but with each lick, I found myself pausing to savor their natural sweetness, rendering me too languid to catch their trail. 

While this peach almond cake was baking, I basked in the glorious smell of summertime in a baker’s kitchen, wishing my home could always smell like this.

When the cake was finally cool to cut into, I was rewarded with the taste of sweet vanilla and almond flooding my senses.

The baked peaches were smooth and creamy against the light and tender, buttery crumb. As I continued to relish in each and every bite of this peach almond cake, I could feel my conscious getting sleepier and sleepier until all I could think about was the sheer bliss of that very moment. 

Peach Almond Cake

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Delicate almond cake with sweet peach slices nestled inside. 

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cups almond flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1.5 peaches, sliced 1/4" thin
• almond flakes
• powdered sugar, for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan (and, optionally, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, otherwise just grease very well).
2. Mix almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside.
3. In another bowl, use a rubber spatula to cream the butter and sugar together until mixed well. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well until incorporated. Add the vanilla and grated lemon zest; stir to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with your spatula until they’re all blended together. Add the sour cream and stir until it’s fully incorporated.
5. Pour the batter into the greased cake pan (it will be thick). Use your spatula to smooth out the top. Place the peach slices in a radial pattern, starting from the outer edges and working your way in. Sprinkle the top with the sliced or flaked almonds.
6. Bake the cake for approximately 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Run a knife along the edges of the pan and flip out of the pan onto a wire cooling rack. Make sure to flip the cake right side up once it’s on the rack so that the top of the cake with the peaches are facing up. Once the cake is barely warm, dust the top with powdered sugar.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 10 Serving Size: 10 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 256