Peach and Cream Syrup Cake

I have a lot of cake tins. I can't help but impulse buy when I saw something that I don’t already have. I got to have it, I said. I would need it in the very near future and who knows it might not be available then, I debated. I would be wishing that I brought it in the first place and I would be full of regrets forever, I reasoned.

So it's no surprise that I got a kugelhopf/ bundt tin. To be fair, I have every intention of making kugelhopf. But when I saw this interesting peach and cream syrup cake recipe, my kugelhopf tin was screaming to me. I could visualise the beautiful pattern imprinted on the cake. It would be beautiful with nothing else.

This peach and cream syrup cake has a wonderful tender crumb, almost fudgy even. With the peach syrup that absorbs into the cake, you know it's going to be good. You might think that it will be too sweet like most syrup cakes, but it's not. And the cream! Please whatever you do, don't skip the cream. The cream adds a wonderful lightness and creamy component to the cake. And it's a peach and cream cake afterall.



Peach and Cream Syrup Cake
(Adapted from Delicious Magazine Australia October 2016)

Peach Cake
700 grams canned peaches in syrup (400 gram drained weight)
200 grams unsalted butter, room temperature, softened
200 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
4 eggs
200 grams almond meal
225 grams plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
250 ml buttermilk
Additional melted butter and flour for greasing

Peach Syrup
300 grams reserved peach juices/syrup from cans
50 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Vanilla Cream
300 grams thickened cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

To make peach cake:
Preheat oven to 180C conventional (or 160C fan forced).

Brush 26cm bundt pan generously with melted butter, dust buttered pan with flour, shake and tap the pan over the sink to remove excess flour. (Note: Don't be tempted to skip this step even if you have a non-stick bundt cake pan.)

Drain peaches, reserving syrup. Whiz the peaches in a food processor to a smooth puree. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until thick and pale. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the almond meal, flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. With the motor running on low speed, add dry ingredients and buttermilk in 2 batches until just combined. Stir through peach puree until well combined. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a spoon. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

While the cake is still hot, poke a few holes in the cake with a toothpick, and pour two third of the hot peach syrup over the cake (see steps below on how to make the peach syrup). With the cake still in the pan, set aside to allow the syrup to absorb completely, about 10 minutes. Invert cake onto a wire rack set over a baking tray, drizzle remainder of the peach syrup over cake, and allow cake to cool completely.

To make peach syrup:
Combine reserve peach juices/syrup, sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.

To make vanilla cream:
Whip cream and vanilla until soft peak.

Serve cake with vanilla cream and a couple of peach slices.