Peaches and Cream Cake

This is, hands down, one of our new favorite desserts. Ever. Seriously. I made this twice in the span of two days. That is how good it is. It is so good that my brother even FACEBOOKED about how awesome it is. His status update, "Oh man this dessert is fantastic!!! Thanks Shay!!!" My dad ate what little was left of it the next day for breakfast.

Think of a cobbler, cake and a cheesecake all in one delightful dish. That is what you get in this dish. It is flavorful without being too rich and creamy without the cream cheese amount being too overwhelming. Man blogging makes me hungry!!!

And if that wasn't wonderful enough this dessert is so easy to make with mostly basic ingredients. I had to buy the peaches and the cream cheese both times but that was it.

Now I will have to make it again to test my theory but the first time I made this cake I made it with Whole milk because that was the only kind I had on hand at the time. It seemed to me like the first cake puffed up a lot more than the second one that I made with 1% milk. So my theory is that this cake is puffier with thicker milk. That is certainly true when you make rolls so it seems perfectly reasonable to me. But if you want to cut calories it is still wonderful both ways.

This amazing recipe and the picture are courtesy of Mel's Kitchen Cafe and can be found at this site here: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/05/peaches-and-cream-cake.html

Peaches and Cream Cake
from melskitchencafe.com
printable recipe
*Serves 12

Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted

 Peaches and Topping:

29-ounce can sliced peaches or 1 quart home-bottled peaches
16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons reserved peach juice
Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium or large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cornstarch. Blend. Make a well in the center and add the vanilla, eggs, milk and melted butter. Whisk together until well combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Slice the peaches into bite-sized pieces, scattering them over the top of the batter evenly. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and reserved peach juice together until light and creamy. Dollop the cream cheese mixture in tablespoon-sized spoonfuls over the top of the batter and peaches and then use a spatula to evenly spread together to form a creamy layer. It doesn't have to be perfect, just try to spread it as evenly over the top as possible (it's ok if peaches are peeking through in spots). Sprinkle the top of the cream cheese layer generously with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 45-60 minutes until the edges are puffed and golden and the cream cheese layer has bubbled slightly on top. This is a difficult cake to test for doneness because of the gooey cream cheese layer. If the middle is still jiggly, bake until it no longer jiggles and the cake batter layer is puffed and no longer runny. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*NOTE: I liked the cake better at room temperature and my husband liked it better warm. You just can't go wrong! :-)