Fresh, juicy peach halves give this vanilla and buttermilk Peach Almond Cake bursts of color and concentrated sweet-tart flavor, while the addition of brandy to the homemade marzipan lends just the right amount of kick. For more recipes that make the most of your 9×13 sheet pan, get our July/August issue here.
Peach Almond Cake
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup (286 grams) Brandy Almond Marzipan (recipe follows), room temperature
- 6 medium fresh peaches (900 grams)
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs (150 grams)
- 1 tablespoon (18 grams) vanilla bean paste
- 2½ cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- 1 cup (240 grams) whole buttermilk
- ½ cup (57 grams) sliced almonds
Instructions
- Prepare Brandy Almond Marzipan. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend over sides of pan. Spray pan with baking spray with flour.
- Peel and cut peaches in half, removing pit. Cut each peach half into 5 slices.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and Brandy Almond Marzipan at medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla bean paste.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Place peaches cut side down on top of batter. Sprinkle with almonds.
- Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Using excess parchment as handles, remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Brandy Almond Marzipan
Makes about 1¾ cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 cups (192 grams) superfine bleached almond flour
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) brandy
- 2½ tablespoons (35 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 large egg white (30 grams)
- 1½ teaspoons (9 grams) vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- In the work bowl of a food processor, place confectioners’ sugar and almond flour; process until combined. Add brandy, butter, egg white, and vanilla bean paste; process until mixture comes together. (Mixture will be softer than a typical marzipan.) Brandy Almond Marzipan will keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Dear Bakefromscratch team,
Thanks for another great recipe! Cake turned out to be super tender and crumbly with a nice scent of almonds and brandy! I made it twice already.
But I got a small question: sometimes batter right under the fruits seems to be underbaked due to juices. Is there any way to avoid it? Maybe it’s better to choose peaches that are a bit underripe?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Tatyana, we’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe! As long as you’re adding fresh fruit to a cake batter, there’s always a chance it will make the cake a bit moist due to the juices in fruit. Our best recommendation is to make sure you’re patting your peaches down to make them really dry before adding them to the batter.