Peach Crumb Cake

Lately I've been feeling a little guilty about neglecting the blog, but this past week I just haven't felt like baking. I don't know if it's because of all of the last-minute baby prep or because Stephen went back to school this week and we've been trying to spend as much time together as possible. Either way, I've been avoiding the kitchen. Yesterday after I saw him out the door I mustered up the energy and will-power to bake up a breakfasty treat. We had a giant lone peach sitting on our counter that was begging to get used in something other than a smoothie. Since I had both buttermilk and sour cream on hand (a rare occasion in our household) I jumped on the opportunity to make a coffee or crumb cake. I started off with a light, moist cinnamon cake, topped it with slices of fresh peach, and then covered it with a sweet brown sugar crumble. By the time it had finished baking our entire house smelled heavenly- I was ready to dig in! I let it cool for half an hour before slicing it up, but let me tell you the wait was worth it, because the result was out of this world! Fresh, light and perfectly sweet!

Peach Crumb Cake

Ingredients

1 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. cake flour

½ c. sugar

8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

¼ c. sour cream

¼ c. buttermilk

1½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. vanilla

1 extra large ripe peach (or 2 small), skin removed, thinly sliced

Crumb topping:

⅓ c. + 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

½ c. brown sugar

4 tbsp. butter, cold

½ tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray an 8x8" baking dish or a 9" round baking dish, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, then egg yolk, mixing until just combined.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. With mixing speed on low, alternate dry ingredients with sour cream and buttermilk (this will help prevent the mixture from curdling). Mix until well combined and no flour pockets remain. The batter will be relatively thick.
4. Remove bowl from stand and spread the batter evenly into the prepared dish. Place the sliced peaches on top, making sure to completely cover the batter.
5. In a small mixing bowl combine all crumb topping ingredients. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into fine pieces, creating tiny lumps in the mixture. Pour the mixture over the peaches, spread evenly.
6. Place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (I baked mine in a round dish and it took about 38 minutes). The topping should be nice and brown and the center should look slightly moist. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 30-45 minutes before serving.

Inspired by Spoon Fork Bacon's Blueberry Cardamom Crumb Cake | Makes approximately 8-12 servings

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

 I woke up the other morning determined to bake a batch of muffins. I headed straight into my kitchen, opened the cupboards and realized what little I had to work with. Apparently over the past few weeks I've really neglected my baking supplies and not only failed to replenish the really important items like flour, but I never stocked up on dairy products like butter or whole milk. So I worked with what I had. Isn't that what we should be doing anyway? I really didn't want to run to the store just for flour and milk, so I made adjustments here and there and came up with a recipe that produced really yummy muffins! They turned out nice and crunchy on top (I attribute that to the cake flour, if you don't have any just use 1½ c. of all-purpose) and super moist and flavorful inside. These muffins were a big hit with me, and would certainly please any of my poppy seed muffin loving family members! What kind of poppy seed muffins do you or your family love? Almond, lemon, banana? I've even seen a blueberry combo! Yum!

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
1 c. flour
½ c. cake flour
1 c. sugar
9 tbsp. (1 stick + 1 tbsp) butter, room temperature
2 eggs
¾ c. sour cream
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. almond extract
2 tbsp. poppy seeds

2 tbsp. slivered almonds, for top

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line a muffin pan with 12 liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract and poppy seeds.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream. Mix until incorporated.
5. Fill each muffin tin ⅔ of the way full. Sprinkle with slivered almonds. Place in oven and bake for 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Stephen + Natalie | Makes approximately 12 standard size muffins