Summer Peach Cake (Reduced Sugar)
By America's Test KitchenPublished on April 19, 2020
Time
2 hours, plus 1½ hours cooling
Yield
Serves 10
Sugar
15 grams (down from 33)
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You can learn more about Sucanat in this article. To crush panko bread crumbs, place them in a zipper-lock bag and crush with a rolling pin. You can substitute frozen peaches for the fresh peaches; you do not need to thaw the fruit before roasting. You can skip grinding the Sucanat in step 1; however, the cake will be slightly speckled in appearance. If using a dark colored cake pan, start checking the cake for doneness 5 to 10 minutes earlier. This cake tastes best the same day it is made.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease foil. Working in 3 batches, grind Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute.
- Toss peaches with 2 tablespoons ground Sucanat, 3 tablespoons schnapps, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in bowl. Spread peaches in single layer on prepared sheet and roast until peaches release their juice and begin to caramelize, about 25 minutes. Let peaches cool on completely on sheet, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl. In separate bowl, whisk remaining ground Sucanat and eggs together until combined. Whisk in melted butter, sour cream, almond extract, remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla, and remaining 1 teaspoon peach schnapps until combined and smooth. Whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
- Strain excess liquid from peaches. Toss peaches with crushed panko, then fold into batter. Scrape cake batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
- Bake until cake is set and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on wire rack, about 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream.
Time
2 hours, plus 1½ hours coolingYield
Serves 10Sugar
15 grams (down from 33)Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
We wanted a flavorful, peach-packed cake that we could pair with a simple, lightly sweetened dollop of whipped cream. Since peaches contain a lot of water, we knew that our biggest challenge would be keeping their moisture content under control while using less sugar. We started by making a thick cake batter with less liquid than normal, hoping that the peaches we folded in would provide the moisture our batter needed. But this cake turned out soggy and riddled with gummy spots. Moreover, we found that the peach flavor was muted and dull. To enhance the peaches' flavor and sweetness and reduce their moisture content, we roasted the peaches before incorporating them into the batter. We also added peach schnapps to both the roasted peaches and the batter. While this cake was less soggy and had an intense peach flavor that tasters loved, gummy spots still persisted. We needed something that would act as a barrier between the peaches and the cake. Coating the peaches in flour helped alleviate some of the gumminess, but we thought we could do better. We speculated that another pantry ingredient—bread crumbs—might be just the thing. We were happily surprised to find that tossing crushed panko crumbs with the roasted and strained peach chunks resulted in drastically fewer gummy spots, and the bread crumbs hydrated and incorporated seamlessly into the cake.
Before You Begin
You can learn more about Sucanat in this article. To crush panko bread crumbs, place them in a zipper-lock bag and crush with a rolling pin. You can substitute frozen peaches for the fresh peaches; you do not need to thaw the fruit before roasting. You can skip grinding the Sucanat in step 1; however, the cake will be slightly speckled in appearance. If using a dark colored cake pan, start checking the cake for doneness 5 to 10 minutes earlier. This cake tastes best the same day it is made.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease foil. Working in 3 batches, grind Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute.
- Toss peaches with 2 tablespoons ground Sucanat, 3 tablespoons schnapps, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in bowl. Spread peaches in single layer on prepared sheet and roast until peaches release their juice and begin to caramelize, about 25 minutes. Let peaches cool on completely on sheet, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl. In separate bowl, whisk remaining ground Sucanat and eggs together until combined. Whisk in melted butter, sour cream, almond extract, remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla, and remaining 1 teaspoon peach schnapps until combined and smooth. Whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
- Strain excess liquid from peaches. Toss peaches with crushed panko, then fold into batter. Scrape cake batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
- Bake until cake is set and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on wire rack, about 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream.
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