Tuesdays with Dorie: Dimply Peach Cake
September 23, 2008 at 5:49 am | Posted in breakfast things, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 49 Comments
Michelle of Bake-En selected Dorie’s Dimply Plum Cake for this week’s TWD. I’ve read about this little breakfast cake all over the place, so I was really looking forward to trying it. Unfortunately, stone fruits are not in season just yet here in Australia. I had to take what I could get on this one, and what I could get were a couple of rock-hard peaches. I stuck ’em in a paper bag and crossed my fingers that they’d ripen after a few days.
Well, they didn’t really ripen at all, and frankly I was surprised that I could even get the pits out, but I charged ahead with my out of season fruit anyway. I went with one of Dorie’s “playing around” suggestions and added a few shredded basil leaves instead of citrus zest to the cake batter. I kept in the cardamom, which is a spice I love, and added a pinch of cinnamon, too. To try and help the crunchy peaches along a bit, I sprinkled each exposed half with sugar just before putting the cake in the oven, and then a couple more times during the baking process as well.
Such a cute cake– I loved the fruity dimples, and the peach halves looked almost like hearts! What I’ve hidden from you in these photos, though, is a little patch of raw batter left under each peach half. Drat– I couldn’t get that part to cook through for the life of me! In a flash of genius while taking these photos, I thought that if I flipped the individual slices upside-down on a baking sheet and stuck them under the broiler for a minute, I cook get the raw bits to firm up. And it worked! (That technique might get a little messy with a whole large cake.) There was no time to take extra pics, however, as the coffee was good to go, and R was grumbling that breakfast was already taking too long.
I made half a recipe and baked it in a standard-sized loaf pan. Leftovers weren’t a problem, as R and I polished off the whole thing in one sitting! The peaches did sweeten and soften nicely in the oven (I do think the sugar sprinklings helped), and I loved the warm, spicy cardamom flavor. Although R was initially suspicious, the basil was a really nice touch, too…I should bake with herbs more often.
For the recipe, look in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (she also has it on Serious Eats) or read Bake-En. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll to see what over 250 other people had to say!
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a whisk and a spoon 
Here we have the plum and damson season, unfortunately we are not fond of those.
Great looking cake and: It’s always good to bake with herbs.
Comment by Ulrike— September 23, 2008 #
This looks so nice. Pity I don’t like peaches. But think i can make this with other fruits eh ?? Great photos
Comment by snooky doodle— September 23, 2008 #
Cute cake, indeed!!
Comment by VeggieGirl— September 23, 2008 #
Great pictures of your dimply peach cake! I have had the same problem with peaches in some fresh peach muffins that I made recently… doughy batter right around where the peaches were. Maybe it’s a peach thing?
Comment by RecipeGirl— September 23, 2008 #
Your photos are divine as usual!!
Comment by Tammy— September 23, 2008 #
I had exactly the same experience with raw batter underneath the fruit. I love the look of the peaches though, and want to try them myself sometime. I just like cooked peaches so much more than cooked plums (as it turns out!). Beautiful photos, too!
Comment by Lori— September 23, 2008 #
Phew! As long as I’m not the only one who had gooey cake underneath my fruit, I don’t feel quite as bad 🙂 And your solution is fantastic. I chickened out on that herbs in baked goods thing, but I really should just try it sometime.
Comment by Caitlin— September 23, 2008 #
The plums totally look like hearts. I am such a sucker for hearts. So glad you and R enjoyed it! Me and T ate ours in one sitting too. It was lovely for breakfast the next day. YUM!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
Comment by CB— September 23, 2008 #
This looks so pretty and so delicious – I can’t wait to make mine tomorrow morning (am taking a sick day off work). Will try frozen cherries. We are also getting a bit low on summer fruits now.
Comment by Heather Peskin— September 23, 2008 #
it looks delicious! great problem solving skills too 🙂
Comment by kim— September 23, 2008 #
Your cake looks wonderful. I used apples in mine and still had the gooey problem, so it’s not just peaches. I love the way the cake tastes, but I definitely need to make it again to work the bugs out.
Comment by Di— September 23, 2008 #
Looks great! The first time I made it, it tested fine and then underneath was all dough, all the time. I baked the heck out of the second one and it worked. Next time, I’m trying peaches like yours. Yours look fantastic!!
Comment by food librarian— September 23, 2008 #
Gorgeous job! Can’t wait to make mine tonight!
Comment by Gretchen Noelle— September 23, 2008 #
Great pictures! I’d be skeptical about basil in it, but glad to hear it was delicious too. Looks amazing!
Comment by Shari— September 23, 2008 #
Looks wonderful. I’ve never baked with cardamom, but I would like to try it in the future. And the basil sounds like an interesting addition for sure.
Comment by pamela— September 23, 2008 #
I agree, a very cute cake. Yours looks delicious.
Comment by rainbowbrown— September 23, 2008 #
Well, problems aside, your pictures look wonderful! I’m definitely trying this with peaches next time.
Comment by Holly @ PheMOMenon— September 23, 2008 #
Those rock hard peaches look pretty good to me…… I think just about any fruit could work here. but peach flavor is hard to beat!
Comment by nn— September 23, 2008 #
I haven’t seen any stone fruits around yet 😦 Unfortunately I decided to go with blueberries- big mistake! Your pictures look very appetizing though!
Comment by Bria— September 23, 2008 #
I was just saying that I wanted to try it with peaches! I had some battery dough too!
Comment by Tara— September 23, 2008 #
That looks amazing!! I agree about how difficult it was for the batter too cook through and I used slices! It’s a good thing the moisture from the peaches softened my cake up the next day. Either way, the flavour was amazing. I’ve never tried herbs in a cake before, I wonder what that tastes like?
Comment by Steph— September 23, 2008 #
I wish I’d left the cardamom in when I made the peach variation. We couldn’t taste the basil enough. Your cake is lovely – great pics. Now I want more!
Comment by Nancy (n.o.e.)— September 23, 2008 #
Lovely – your photos are marvelous! I want to reach in and take a big bite!
Comment by Madam Chow— September 23, 2008 #
Nice looking cake. You did a great job improvising with the broiler.
Comment by Jules— September 23, 2008 #
I love the way this cake. Even if your peaches were rock hard your cake looks delicious!
Comment by Christine— September 23, 2008 #
Well, Lucky you… you got raw patches of dough, I guess a lot of us got too dry of a dough.
Nevertheless, your pics are formidable as usual and… what we don’t see (or taste) can’t hurt us! LOL LOL LOL
Great job! Perhaps it was even better with peaches, proof that necessity is mother of the best inventions!
Comment by Vibi— September 24, 2008 #
That looks delicious! I love that you put peaches in…i may have to try that next time!
Comment by Karen— September 24, 2008 #
I love that you used peaches! They are a summer favorite! Your cake looks very tasty!
Comment by Maria— September 24, 2008 #
the idea of this with peaches sounds amazing, steph!! your cake looks yummy. i used apples and cinnamon and did a 1/2 but i didn’t get enough for a loaf…late night baking sometimes gets sloppy hehee.
Comment by Mara— September 24, 2008 #
Adorable 🙂
Comment by Dani— September 24, 2008 #
Mmmm – I bet peaches would be wonderful!! It looks great!
Comment by Amy (Sing for your supper)— September 24, 2008 #
It looks lovely, I had the same problem with underbakedness in my nectarine one but no one seemed to mind because it was so good! Your pictures are so beautiful!
Comment by Mary Ann— September 24, 2008 #
It’s so fun to read people’s blog, who live in different countries. I was shocked to find out that stone fruit isn’t in season over there! Sometimes you just get in that mindset that everybody is living in the same “season” as you 😉 But your cake looks scrumptious! Maybe in the summertime you’ll have to revisit the recipe and tryout the other fruits :0)
Comment by Stephanie— September 24, 2008 #
I love your peach cake. It looks fabulous! I had to bake mine longer than the recipe suggested, but I thought that might have been because I added a streusel topping.
Comment by Marie— September 24, 2008 #
Peaches work! And great looking photos of the cake! Good job as always. I did cherries instead. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Comment by Sugar Betty— September 24, 2008 #
It looks great.
I ended up using applies.
Comment by chocolatechic— September 24, 2008 #
Love peaches. I may try that next time!
Comment by Peggy— September 24, 2008 #
Yum your peach version looks divine! 🙂
Comment by Jamie— September 24, 2008 #
Cake looks tasty to me. Great job!
Comment by teaandscones— September 24, 2008 #
adorable!!
Comment by Jayma— September 24, 2008 #
Oh how the family must suffer waiting for us to get “the shot!” The basil/cardamom combo sounds nice.
Comment by Carol Peterman— September 24, 2008 #
As always a terrific entry, photo and twist on the cake. Next time peaches it is.
Comment by Lauren— September 24, 2008 #
Looks delicious 🙂
Comment by Em— September 24, 2008 #
Great idea-my broiler bails me out all the time! Your pics are lovely and what great flavors you have going on.
Comment by Erin— September 24, 2008 #
Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous!
Comment by Kayte— September 24, 2008 #
Oooh! Your cake looks beautiful! Perfectly dimply! I’ll bet the peaches were wonderful. I used nectarines and I loved them.
Comment by Susan at Sticky,Gooey,Creamy,Chewy— September 24, 2008 #
Wow, your little pieces of cake look perfect! Great job! 🙂 Nice trick putting it under the broiler, too. I’ll have to remember that!
Comment by Anne— September 24, 2008 #
Great pictures! I used plums, but will probably use a different fruit next time. I’m glad to hear that this recipe worked well halved!
Comment by Cathy— September 24, 2008 #
That does look like a good breakfast, much better than the bowl of cold Life cereal I am having while reading this.
Comment by Jenny— September 25, 2008 #