In less than two weeks, I have company coming for my Sleep Hollow-themed feast that we’ll eat before heading out to our local Halloween Haunted Trail event.
I’m basing this party on the Van Tassel Feast that Washington Irving wrote about in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I recently collected a bunch of recipes for food described in the book, and today’s recipe is for one of my favorite autumn desserts: Spiced Peach Cake. Even though it’s mid-fall, the last of the harvest peaches are still ripe, luscious, and on sale at the local farm stands before they close for the winter. And the addition of fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves adds a nice, warm flavor that counteracts the sweetness. Some of the other recipes I’m making for dinner are Ham and Cheese Hand Pies and Roast Chicken in a Pumpkin. And, if I have time, I may also make this Ginger Cake. 🙂 I wish you all could join me for dinner!
Spiced Peach Cake
This is an easy, delicious cake that uses up the last of the fall peaches. It's great served with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. And you can even eat it for breakfast. 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
- dash ground cloves
- 3/4 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 3 small peaches pit removed and sliced thinly
- 2 Tablespoons Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease the bottom and insides of an 8-inch springform pan with butter and lightly dust it all with flour.
Place the pan on a piece of parchment paper and trace around the circumference. Cut out this circle and trim it to fit into the inside bottom of the pan. Set aside.
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Use a medium bowl for the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg until it's all blended. Set the bowl aside.
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Use a large bowl for the wet ingredients. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy and a pale yellow. Then, one at a time, beat in the eggs until they are mixed in–but do not over beat the eggs.
Gently, with a spoon, stir in the vanilla.
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Once the oven is preheated, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the batter is well mixed. But do not over beat.
Then, gently fold in the ricotta cheese until the ingredients are just combined.
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Pour the thick batter into the prepared springform pan.
Working quickly, arrange the sliced peaches on top of the batter in a circular pattern and gently press them into the batter so they adhere.
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Put the pan into the oven and bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness with a knife – insert it into the cake. It's done when the knife comes out clean and the cake is a nice, golden brown.
Place the cake on a baking rack and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Once the cake is cool, dust it with powdered sugar and serve. This remains of the cake can be covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days – but it won't last that long. 🙂
