Baltimore Peach Cake Submitted by STEPHANIE REEL Ingredients 3 cups flour 1/4 cup warm water Canola oil 1 package yeast 5 or 6 ripe peaches 1/4 cup sugar Several Tbsps of 1 teaspoon salt peach or apricot 1/4 cup melted butter jam 1 cup milk
From Chef Stephanie: We were born and raised in Baltimore, and the Baltimore Peach Cake recipe is very special to us. It’s sweet, and moist and yummy. Some bakeries in Baltimore sell this amazing dessert from June through September. It is a real treat.
Instructions
1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes, so that it starts bubbling. 2. Meanwhile, pour the milk into a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Turn the heat to medium, and stir the milk constantly. It will start to bubble on the sides as it warms up. When the milk in the middle of the pan starts to bubble, you've successfully scalded it. Turn the heat off, remove from the burner, and let cool for several minutes. 3. In a large bowl, add the yeast mixture, sugar, salt, and melted butter and mix together with a spoon. Then pour in the egg and scalded milk, and mix together. 4. Add about 1 cup of the flour, and mix until it is just incorporated—it will be very sticky. Mix in another cup of flour, and then the final cup. You may need to add more flour as you work with it. It should be slightly sticky. 5. Add a couple splashes of canola oil to bowl, and knead the bread in the bowl for a couple minutes, turning it to make sure it's well greased. 6. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, until doubled in size. 7. Punch it down in the bowl. Cover and let rise about 30 minutes, until double in size. 8. While the dough is rising the second time, preheat oven to 375 degrees and prep the peaches: peel, pit, and then cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. You'll want enough peach slices to cover the surface of the cake. 9. After the dough has almost doubled in size, punch it down one last time, and then spread it out in a 9-by-13-inch pan that is either greased or lined with parchment paper. You'll have to work the dough so that it fills the corners of the pan. (You could also make two 8-inch round cakes that will have a thinner dough.) 10. Top the cake with the sliced peaches. How much you cover it is a matter of personal preference—you can fully cover the surface, or leave an exterior border like a pizza. You can lay the peaches flat, or slightly overlapping in rows. 11. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, until the dough is slightly browned. 12. Take the cake out of the oven and place on a baking sheet. 13. While still hot, brush some peach or apricot jam on top to serve as a glaze. 14. Let it cool, and then eat in the next day or two . Little City, Big Flavor
36
