Hooray! It’s peach season! With all the craziness now, that’s certainly something to stand up and cheer about—gotta enjoy the small things, right? So let’s get all kinds of excited about this”peach” of a cake that would be am amazing addition to any of your weekend plans!

This is one of those simple, homey, everyday cakes that are so near and dear to my heart. It comes together without too much fuss and would work equally well as a brunch treat, afternoon coffee break pick-me-up or for a ordinary night dessert. It’s so versatile!

It’s also so delicious!! In addition to the layer of sweet and juicy peaches that pop up in the middle, the cake is light and fluffy with the slight crunch of toasted, mostly ground-up almonds. that get added to the batter.

Now let’s talk about the top of the cake because guys, it is totally addictive! By dotting the whole thing with butter and sprinkling on some brown sugar, the top layer of the cake gets all crackly-crunchy and YUM!!!

I promise you’re going to love it and so will everyone else!

So let’s celebrate responsibly and go wild and crazy over the simple joy of fresh peaches!!😁😁

Almond and Peach Coffee Cake

Makes 8-10 generous servings

You will need a food processor for this.

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Bake Time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole almonds, blanched or skins on

• 1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour (plus a little extra for cake pan)

• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter room temperature plus 11/2 tablespoons chilled butter (plus a little extra to grease cake pan)

• 1 cup ricotta cheese, room temp

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 large eggs, room temp

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

• 3-4 ripe peaches (about 2 cups worth) peeled and cut into cubes

• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

The Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and and roast for 8-10 minutes, until they get a little browned. While nuts are roasting, butter and flour an 8x8-inch baking pan. Tap out any excess flour and set aside. When nuts are done, increase the oven temp to 375 F.

2. Allow nuts to cool to room temperature and then pulse in a food processor until you get a fine meal, but not until it gets pasty. Watch carefully so you don’t overdo it. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Use an electric mixer to beat together the 1 stick of butter, ricotta and sugar for 1 minute in medium-high speed. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, on low speed mix in vanilla and lemon zest. Scrape down the bowl and add the dry ingredients in 2 additions, beating on low speed.

4. Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out evenly. Scatter the peaches all across the top evenly. If you have a ton of peach juice, reserve it for later (I didn’t). Scrape the remaining batter over the peaches and smooth the top. Sprinkle the brown sugar over it evenly and dot the top with the little pieces of the 1 ½ tablespoons chilled butter. If you have peach juice, you can drizzle it across the top.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top looks crusty and golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from The Harvest Baker by Ken Haedrich. I cut the almond extract, used more peaches, and subbed lemon zest for orange zest.