with toasted coconut & pepitas
i baked a cake yesterday, adapting this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for a strawberry summer cake. we got peaches in our CSA, and while in summers past i would have just eaten them fresh, i recently developed a (stronger) allergy to birch pollen, which is commonly found on tree fruit. i’ve had the allergy for a while (i was allergy tested as a child) but now i get hives and itchiness in my mouth when i eat tree fruit, which is quite sad because i love fruit! anyways, cooking fruit alleviates the allergy, which is what led me to making this peach cake.
the original ingredients versus what i used, below:
- Original:
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour (can swap 3/4 cup or 94 grams all-purpose flour with 3/4 cup or 75 grams of barley flour, see Note)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (200 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) milk
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 pound (450 grams) strawberries, hulled and halved
- My recipe:
- 8 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, browned in a pan (i did this for the flavor and because i always fail to soften butter before baking — it’s always frozen)
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (200 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) milk (i used oat milk because we didn’t have regular)
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 5 peaches, cut into 12 slices each
- allspice and cinnamon
- 1/2 to 1 cup of flaked coconut
- 1/2 cup pepitas
- powdered sugar, for topping
recipe from smitten kitchen below, with my adjustments included:
- Preheat oven to 350 F, 180 C
- Butter a glass casserole dish (or any pan that is on the deeper side or wider side, 9-10 inches recommended for rising)
- Thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, salt, allspice, and cinnamon together in a bowl
- Brown stick of unsalted butter in a pan
- Add browned butter to a larger bowl with sugar, mix together until fluffy
- Mix in milk and vanilla until combined, then mix in egg (i am always afraid the egg will cook if i add it to a hot mixture, ha!)
- Add dry mixture gradually, mixing just until smooth
- Pour into prepared baking dish
- Toast coconut and pepitas separately
- Press coconut and pepitas into the cake batter, evenly spread (could also try mixing in before pouring the mixture!)
- Arrange peach slices to cover whole top of cake, pressing in slightly
- Bake cake for 10 minutes at 350 F, then 50 minutes at 325 F
- Test to ensure a fork pressed in comes out clean, and it’s done!
- Coat lightly in powdered sugar to serve
Pumpkinhead 