Spiced Nectarine Cake Recipes

NECTARINE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/ 200 degrees Celsius. Line a baking dish of approximately 8x13 inches/21x32 cm with baking paper.
• Dough: Place the flour, butter, sugar, salt, and egg in the food processor. Mix shortly until the dough comes together. The dough is pretty soft, but if you think it is way too sticky add an extra tablespoon flour.
• Bake dough: Place the dough in small heaps into the prepared baking dish. Press the dough evenly in the dish with your fingers (you can flour the fingers a bit first) or a floured spoon. Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden but not quite done yet.
• Prepare the fruit in the meantime. Stone the nectarines or peaches and quarter them. If they are very large, cut them into eights.
• Take the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the breadcrumbs and arrange the nectarine slices on top. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Mix topping: In the meantime separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Beat the egg yolks with the 3 tablespoons sugar. Add the flour to the egg yolk mixture and incorporate. Fold in the beaten egg whites.
• Bake topping: Pour this mixture over the cake and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until golden brown and baked through.
• Dust with icing sugar before serving.

SPICED RICE WITH NECTARINES

Steps:

• Preheat a grill to medium high. Cut 2 nectarines into wedges and toss with olive oil and a big pinch each of cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and salt. Grill until marked, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Chop and toss with 3 cups cooked rice, the juice of 1/2 lemon, a splash of olive oil, a pinch each of cumin and cinnamon, and 1/4 cup each sliced almonds and chopped dill.

SPICED NECTARINE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Using electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add 3/4 cup sugar and beat until blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then lemon juice and lemon peel. Beat in flour until smooth. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
• Arrange enough nectarine slices atop batter in concentric circles to cover completely; press lightly to adhere. Mix cinnamon and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in small bowl. Sprinkle over cake.
• Bake until cake is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour (50 minutes for plums or pluots). Cut around cake to loosen; remove pan sides. Serve cake slightly warm or at room temperature.

NECTARINE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Transfer to 9" round cake pan and spread evenly. Arrange nectarine slices over top in concentric circles in pan. If using large nectarines, you will only need 2 nectarines and will make two overlapping circles. If using smaller nectarines, you may need 3 nectarines and have more circles.
• Beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add egg substitute or eggs and beat until blended. If using egg substitute, the mixture may look slightly curdled. Stir in milk and vanilla, blending well. Stir together dry ingredients; add to batter and mix on low speed just until blended. Batter is not very thick.
• Spread batter evenly over nectarines. Bake cake until wooden pick tests clean, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool on wire rack 10 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. Cut into wedges to serve.
• This is great, warm, for brunch. For dessert, I sometimes add slightly sweetened whipped cream.

NECTARINE GOLDEN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Lightly butter springform pan.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in extracts. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined.
• Spread batter evenly in pan, then scatter nectarines over top. Stir together nutmeg and remaining 1/2 tablespoon sugar and sprinkle over top. Bake until cake is golden-brown and top is firm but tender when lightly touched (cake will rise over fruit), 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove side of pan and cool to warm.

NECTARINE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 340 degrees F (170 degrees C). Place butter in a 9-inch round cake pan and melt in the oven as it preheats.
• Remove pan from oven and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange nectarine pieces on the brown sugar layer.
• Gently whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Beat unsalted butter and white sugar together in a separate bowl until creamy and smooth; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat vanilla extract into the creamed butter mixture. Add flour mixture to creamed butter mixture; beat on low speed just until batter is combined, about 1 minute. Spread batter over nectarine layer.
• Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan and invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SPICED NECTARINE SAUCE

Steps:

• If you'd rather, peel the nectarines; I like having the peel in there.
• Melt butter in small saucepan over medium high heat.
• Dissolve brown sugar in the melted butter, then add the cubed nectarines and the rest of the spices.
• When mixture starts to simmer, turn heat down to low.
• Simmer in order to achieve desired consistency and allow flavors to blend. You will want this to be chunky, with some textural variation--chunks of fruit in a thick, medium-brown sauce. This may take 5-10 minutes. Remove pods before serving (? I'm actually not sure if you can eat them).
• Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or cool and refrigerate.
• My note: this was excellent with hot multigrain cereal! I cooked the cereal first and then added the sauce, about 1:1, stirred it in and warmed it up along with the cereal for a few minutes on low/simmer. Yummy!