Monday, January 18, 2010

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice!



I wanted to make something sweet for my sweet sister who brings home my sweet little niece tomorrow. Something with sugar, spice, and everything nice! I chose a recipe from Penzey's (I love Penzey's and am fortunate to have a store close to me) that I thought would be perfect: "Perfect Peach Cake."

Don't let the peach element fool you at all into thinking this is a summery cake! This is definitely a recipe for cold winter months since ingredients include brown sugar, cinnamon, and buttermilk. It was easy to make - I was able to find fresh peaches that were nice and ripe, imported from Chile. A bit pricey, but absolutely worth it. The smell in my apartment as the cake baked was decadent!

I have many Penzey's spices, including the cinnamon used in this recipe. If you have never checked out Penzey's, please click on this link and enjoy:
If you love making chili, than I suggest you order the Chili 9000 immediately for the rest of the winter! I purchased it this past fall and it is the best Chili powder ever!

The cake came out perfectly, as the name says. The burst of peach amid the dark brown sugar was delicious, and the topping made it a nice hard sugar coating to add a wonderful texture above the moist cake.

Wishing everyone a sweet day!

Perfect Peach Cake (courtesy of Penzey's Spices)

  • 2/3 Cup butter or margarine, softened (I used unsalted butter)
  • 11/2 Cups packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 Cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1 Cup buttermilk (I used lowfat)
  • 4 medium peaches, peeled and chopped, or 3 Cups frozen unsweetened peach slices, thawed and chopped (I used fresh peaches)
  • 1/4 Cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. PENZEYS CINNAMON
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9X13 pan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and pure vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture alternating with the buttermilk, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in the peaches by hand. Pour the batter into the pan. In a small bowl combine the sugar and CINNAMON. Sprinkle over the batter. Bake at 350° for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

24 comments:

  1. mmm...what moist-looking bars! i like peaches quite a bit, but i LOVE cinnamon. it should always be written in capitalized letters, don't you think? :)

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  2. This cake sounds fab-send me a slice too and yeah congrats to u and u sis & family and little nephew(bdw what did u make himfor dinner??:-))))
    u'll soon have a lot or reason and fun for baking with ur adorable litte niece!!!

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  3. Grace, I agree! Cinnamon is definitely my favorite sweet spice! :)
    Vanilla, thanks for your kind words! I ended up making baked ziti with that tomato sauce!

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  4. This cake looks tasty. And, I do agree that you can get caught away at Penzey's. The possibilities are endless.

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  5. Wow, this looks and sounds delicious! My daughter would love this cake. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment!

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  6. What a scrumptious cake! I love baking with peaches. And lots of cinnamon - you can never have too much! Congrats on the precious new additon to your family.

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  7. Ooh, I can smell the peaches from California! this looks delicious.

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  8. This sounds delicious, perfect for brightening up these wintery days. I LOVE Penzeys. No store near me but I order frequently.

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  9. This cake looks wonderful and homey! Do you suppose one could sub in drained local canned peaches for the fresh?

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  10. I think drained peaches would work just fine!

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  11. that sounds delicious -- this might make an appearance at one of our life group meetings :)

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  12. I have a Penzey's right down the road from me. They have such great stuff! Your cake looks delicious. I love cinnamon!

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  13. This cake sounds incredible! I love peaches. I bet it'd be good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. YUM!

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  14. Peaches with cinnamon in a delicious bar sounds wonderful to me.. I wish I had a Penzeys near me. I really must order their cinnamon, thanks for the recommendation.

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  15. Hmmm I am going to have to seek out this Penzey's store. This cake looks amazing! Congrats on your new niece. I'm sure your sister will love this.

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  16. Hum...it looks great...I need to try it...love love your blog :)

    xxx

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  17. Yummie, this cake looks absolutely delicious...love cinnamon and sugar :-)

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  18. This peach cake sounds excellent, definitely a must try!

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  19. Oh lovely! I wish I spotted this post earlier, I just finished my last peach for breakfast!

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  20. I love the warming element of the cinnamon and added to a peach cake must be incredible. What a gorgeous recipe!

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  21. I just love anything with cinnamon. This cake so so me! I can help you eat it if its still there ;)
    Have a lovely weekend.
    *kisses* HH

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  22. This could be my favorite cake. I love cakes with cinnamon and peaches. You can never have enough cinnamon or vanilla, in my opinion.

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  23. I've never made anything like this, with peaches! I am such a huge fan of peaches. I will definitely have to try some. Yum!

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  24. The hard sugary coating sounds like an extra plus to me! Peaches are one of my alltime favorite fruits!

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