It started with a box of peaches from the Saturday Market on the River.
Actually it was a bushel of peaches, which my brother and I ridiculously decided to split for our respective households. Ridiculous because a half-bushel of peaches is actually a good 25 to 30 peaches and in my household there's just the two of us. But the peaches were irresistable, that perfect velvet rose gold, and smelled heavenly even from a few feet away. And since our experiment earlier this year of ordering farm-fresh vegetables delivered to our home, we've had a lot of experience coming up with ways to use up massive amounts of fruits and vegetables.
First, we counted out 10 for us to eat just as snacks. 15 to go.
Then 2 for my special chicken curry that I usually use canned peaches in, instead of the mango that's called for. 13 to go.
Then 2 for homemade peach ice cream. Creamy, perfect, and so much better than storebought. 11 to go.
Then the cake.
It was my mom's birthday and I was determined that she would get something with peaches (luckily, she likes them!). I didn't want to do a cobbler--too expected!--so spent a Saturday morning googling recipes. Did you know that peaches aren't used very often in cakes? In my mind's eye, I imagined a tall proud cake, layers golden and rich with chopped peaches, and five perfect peach halves gracing the white-iced top. The reality was just so...mundane. There was a peach pound cake and even a peach cake, but they all sounded like desserts from the back of a package, baked in a bundt pan and meant to be dumped out on a table with a bunch of other desserts at a potluck. And you have to have frosting with a birthday cake!
Then Texas Monthly appeared on the seventh or eighth search page. A former boss of mine loved the magazine, so I knew this had the potential of being very good. And the name, Dulce De Leche Cake Peach Cake, was magical.
It was also very long and rather complicated, with steps for the icing, filling and the cake itself, so my husband pitched in. (When a recipe calls for you to boil an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for two hours, you know it's going to be complicated!). While he peeled and chopped the peaches, toasted and chopped pecans and made the filling, I mixed up the light, buttery batter. Cooking together hasn't always worked for us, but somehow this did. As my husband said later, "We were both working...hard!...for three solid hours!"
While the cake baked, the dreamy dulce de leche icing--the milk cooked into a creamy caramel sauce that strangely smelled like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese but tasted sweet and delicious--came together. Once the cake cooled, my husband was almost like a little kid as he carefully iced the cake and I placed the decorative pecans on top.
It was a solid hefty cake that my family oohed over and despite a heavy steak dinner consumed a good half in a matter of moments. While we really only used up about 4 peaches, everyone agreed that it was one of the best cakes they ever had (thanks, Texas Monthly!).
Unfortunately, we got a little peached out and the remaining six are making some nice compost in our backyard. But we still have a little dish of the frosting in the fridge. I'm thinking of making another cake.
