Peach Yogurt Cake

August is now officially over, which means peach season is going to be winding down soon. Excuse me while I shed a tear or two. While I try to eat most things only when in season, there are times when I bend this rule. However, with peaches I am very strict. I will not buy peaches at any other time of year except in late summer. There is nothing as disappointing as biting into a beautiful golden peach and hearing a crunch, and find yourself looking at a dry, hard and very sad piece of fruit. Peaches just don't do well at all out of season. 

To celebrate these golden beauties for a little longer, Lara whipped together a light and delicious peach cake to bring to a friends house this weekend. We enjoyed it after feasting on grilled pizzas, hot and bubbly right off the grill. It was the perfect way to end a late summer Saturday night. 

The original recipe called for figs instead of peaches, and then had you swirling mascarpone and jam into the batter before baking. This sounds absolutely divine, but unfortunately I had neither, and was not making another trip to the store so I ended up with a simpler version of the cake with only some chopped peaches. It was still absolutely wonderful, but if you're looking for something with just a bit more pizazz, I would definitely give the mascarpone and jam a try!

This cake baked up nice and tall, and had a lovely tender crumb. Nice and moist, and really not super sweet at all which I really like. It would be fantastic with some lightly whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream! Next time!

Peach Yogurt Cake
Adapted from Joy the Baker
Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 2 peaches, chopped

Directions
Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch wide and 3-inch tall cake pan and lightly dust with flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, eggs, and buttermilk. Whisk in the vanilla or almond extract.

Add the buttermilk mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and no lumps remain. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool to room temperature before slicing to serve. Serve plain or with sweetened whipped cream.

Peaches and Cream Cupcakes

It's an extra special birthday today, my mom turns 60!! I can hardly believe it! In honor of this special occasion, Lara, my dad and I threw a little shindig for her this past Sunday. Family members and friends came over for a salad bar party. It was pretty delicious if I do say so. Today I want to share the best part of the party - the cake of course! Since it's August, and my mom absolutely LOVES peaches, I decided to make a peaches and cream cupcake for her. While I love having the opportunity to make a cake, at a party like this I decided cupcakes would be easier to serve, and would be easier for everyone to eat. 

These cupcakes turned out light and fluffy, filled with sweet and delicious peaches, topped with the perfect frosting, an airy whipped mascarpone and cream frosting. It doesn't get much better than this for an August birthday. I highly recommend both the cake and the frosting. I may never go back to buttercream again!

This cupcake recipe is definitely a keeper. It was simple, and baked up 24 perfect cupcakes. I've been looking for a go-to vanilla cupcake and I think this is it. To turn it into a peach cupcake all I did was dice up a few peaches from the farmers market, let them drain in a colander for a few minutes, tossed them with a little flour and threw them into the batter at the very end. It worked out great. Because peaches have such a gentle flavor, the cupcakes aren't overly "peachy", but they lend a hint of fruitiness to the cake, and you get a sweet surprise every few bites.

I've been wanting to try a mascarpone frosting for some time now and I decided that this was the perfect opportunity. There was no doubt that I would love this frosting, and I was not disappointed! This was the easiest, most delicious frosting I have ever tried. It took all of 2 minutes to whip together, didn't involved any sticky and messy powdered sugar, and tastes absolutely divine! I may never make another white frosting again. The only downside to it is you have to refrigerate it once made, since all that is in it is cream and mascarpone! But that's okay, it's a compromise worth making!

Happy Birthday Mom!! Lookin pretty good! Love you!

Peach Cupcakes
Adapted from Baking A Moment
Ingredients

• 3 cups (14 ounces) all purpose flour
• 1¾ cups (12.25 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened, cut into small cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup (8 ounces) milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Drop or two of almond extract (optional)
• 2-3 peaches, cut into small pieces and placed in a colander to drain

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Add the butter and mix on low speed, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are well-combined.

Combine the milk, vanilla extract and almond extract (if using) in a measuring cup. Beat half this mixture into the flour/butter/eggs. Beat on medium speed for 1½ minutes, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture, and beat for another 30 seconds.

Toss drained peach pieces with a small amount of flour. Gently mix into the batter until well combined.

Fill paper liners ⅔ full with batter, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool completely before topping with mascarpone frosting (recipe below). 

Yields: 24 cupcakes

Mascarpone Frosting

From

Epicurious

Ingredients

• 2 8-ounce containers mascarpone cheese
• 2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Beat all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment just to soft peaks. You need to beat it enough so that it is firm enough to pipe onto the cupcakes, but don't overbeat or mixture will curdle. 

Almond Peach Tartlets

After making my Tomato Tart last week I had a good chunk of tart dough leftover. Not wanting to waste any of this buttery goodness I pressed the pieces I had left into a few mini tart pans and threw them in the freezer. This week I had a few peaches sitting on the counter just crying out to be used. What to do? Then, what do you know, the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion magazine showed up in the mail with a recipe for an almond tart. Out of all of this inspiration these peach tartlets appeared. It was the perfect solution to a very wonderful problem!

I took the recipe for the almond tarts and added some delicious peaches. I love the combination of almond and peach so I knew this was going to be good. I spread the peaches on the chilled crust and then topped with the filling. It worked out quite well, but when I try it again I would try to remember to save a few peach slices to lay on top of the filling too. This would make the finished product look even better I think. But they were still delicious as they were. This is a great versatile tart that I can think will be the perfect starting point for many other delicious tarts this summer!

Almond Peach Tartlets

Adapted From 

King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Filling

• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) soft butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons Flour
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups almond flour or finely ground sliced or slivered almonds
• 3-4 peaches, cut into slices

Glaze

• 1 cup glazing sugar or confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

You'll need to start with 6 mini tart pans filled with your favorite tart/pie dough. I used some leftover  Pate brisee, but whatever you like will work. (Here's the easy press in press in crust that King Arthur Flour suggests)

To make the filling: Beat together the butter, salt, sugar, flour, and extracts. Beat in the eggs, then add the almond flour, stirring just to combine.

Lay sliced peaches onto the well chilled crust. Spread the filling over the peaches.

Bake the tarts for 18 to 24 minutes, until their tops are lightly browned. Remove from the oven, and cool in the pans.

To make the glaze: Stir together the sugar and milk until smooth.

Spread the glaze over the cooled tarts. Top with some whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream if desired.

Yield: 6 mini tarts.