Peach Cobbler Cake

This is a sponsored post by Challenge Butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible! 

There are a wide variety of baked fruit desserts that are all similar but have different names and variations depending on the region you live in. For some people, cobbler consists of a fruit base with a biscuit-like topping. For other people, cobbler is more like a cake. And that's the kind of cobbler I'm making today! I'm calling it a cobbler cake to avoid confusion.

I wanted to capitalize on the last of the fresh peaches left this season. As I'm sure you know, the last of the crop isn't usually the best of the crop. So the best way to consume them is to bake them.

So why make this type of cobbler as opposed to the biscuit-like cobbler? Well, peaches don't get as saucy as berries when baked, so cobbler biscuits don't soak up peach juices in the same way they soak up berry juices. But peaches bake up well into a cake-like cobbler.

Here's what I like about this cobbler cake:

• You don't need to peel the peaches! The skin gives the peaches structure.
• You can make it in one bowl. 
• It's delicious warm, room temperature, or cold. My preference is warm with a scoop of ice cream!

I know you're ready to just skip to the recipe, but there are a couple more things I want to point out. 

1. Soaking the peaches in peach schnapps can help intensify the peach flavor, especially if your peaches aren't super flavorful. The alcohol will mostly bake off in the oven. But the schnapps is optional.
2. Always toast your nuts before adding them to a recipe. Always!
3. You can place the baking dish with butter inside the refrigerator so the butter layer hardens making it easier to spread the batter on top. Also, you can substitute with equal amounts brown butter. The butter will rise up the sides of the cake creating delicious, chewy edges. Just make sure to use a good quality butter. I always use Challenge unsalted butter because I know the rich taste will shine through in the final product.
4. If you do not have buttermilk, make your own. Pour 1.5 cups milk into a cup, remove 1.5 Tablespoons of the milk, add 1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar in its place, stir and let sit for 10 minutes.
5. The purpose of the almonds and the decorating sugar is two-fold: for aesthetics and to add crunch. No big deal if you don't have decorating sugar.

Peach cobbler cake

Yield: Makes about 12 servings

Ingredients

• 4 fresh peaches (about 12-14 ounces)
• 1/4 cup peach schnapps (optional)
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick or 113 grams) Challenge unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (200 grams) brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 tablespoons decorating or Demerara sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Slice peaches into 1/2-inch slices and place in bowl with peach schnapps. Set aside.
3. Spread almonds on baking sheet and bake until toasted, about 7-8 minutes. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, place butter in 11x7-inch baking dish. Place dish in oven and allow butter to melt. This should only take a few minutes. Set baking dish aside.
5. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and salt in large bowl. Add buttermilk and almond extract to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
6. Pour batter in even layer over melted butter. 
7. Spoon peaches over batter. Sprinkle with almonds and decorating sugar.
8. Bake. 50 minutes or until golden brown. Check doneness by lightly tapping center of cake. If cake bounces back, it's done.