Peach Raspberry & Rosewater de la Cake
apollina baker
I did it, I finally made another cake! I haven't baked since I found out I was pregnant last summer. I attempted to make a couple of cakes in my first trimester but quit halfway through. After slicing and tasting, they ended up in a shoe box. But I've been wanting to make this cake since I laid eyes on this lovely number in Oscar de la Renta's Spring 2013 collection. It's so flirty and feminine and peachy pink!
Destined to be a cake made of peaches, raspberries and rosewater...
After brainstorming the flavors with Sara, my lovely friend and coworker, I found an awesome Peach & Rosewater Curd recipe online and the rest of the cake practically made itself. Ha. Not really. It took me 3 days. Baking with a baby makes it a lot longer of a process... How do Smitten Kitchen and Sweetapolita do it??
It was a delicious cake and I know this because my aversion-to-sweets husband said so. I think I should have made it with two layers of the peach/rosewater curd instead of just one because the flavor was so subtle. I baked raspberries and peaches in their own layers and frosted them with a vanilla buttercream made with juice from a jar of sliced peaches. Also very subtle, could have gone crazier with the frosting flavor. Amara was on my hip for most of the curd stirring, it takes so much time for curd to thicken up! That was the extent of her assistance with the baking part but she did lend her cute little self for the photo shoot...
We got a little messy. The recipe is below. I should have added rosewater to the decorative frosting... I was nervous about making the cake taste too flowery since rosewater can be pretty potent. But if it was in the rosettes then you could eat as much or as little as you like. All in all, I am happy with it. It just felt nice to bake again.
Peach, Raspberry and Rosewater Cake ...
For the Cake: (I doubled this recipe since I made 4 layers)
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup peach puree
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup milk (whole)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1.5 cups fresh raspberries (or you can use frozen)
- 1 cup sliced fresh peaches (ditto above)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
To Make: Preheat oven to 350°. Beat the eggs and add 2 cups of sugar, the oil and the peach puree, beat until well blended. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Next, beat those dry ingredients into the egg and oil mixture alternating with the milk. After that, blend in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, toss the sliced peaches with 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Pour half of the batter that you would normally pour into a greased and floured pan and then layer the peach mixture over it and then cover with the other portion of the batter. Repeat this in a second pan with the raspberries (I didn't toss them with any sugar or cinnamon). Again, I doubled this recipe so that I had two layers of the peach cake and two layers of the raspberry cake. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minute or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan; turn out onto a wire rack.
Peach and Rosewater Curd (found here on Group Recipes)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh peach puree (make in a blender/food processor)
- lemon juice to taste, about 1 tablespoon
- 1/2 teaspoon rosewater (bought at Whole Foods)
- 6 tablespoons butter
To Make: Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, peach puree, lemon juice, and rosewater. Place over simmering water and stir constantly until thickened (eventually, it will thicken). Remove from heat and beat in butter, bit by bit. Strain well and chill.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (with a bit of peach juice and/or rosewater*): (double if making extra to decorate)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (add more or less to get the right consistency & taste preference)
- 1 teaspoon milk
*Play with the flavor a little and add some of the juice/syrup from a jar of peaches and/or a little rosewater
To Make: In mixer bowl, beat butter first and then combine in the sugar and salt. Beat until thoroughly blended. Add the milk, juice and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.
To Assemble/Decorate: Layer the curd in between the fruit cake layers (I only used it in the center layer since I had 4 layers). Frost the cake with the buttercream and then pipe the flowers on top. I used 3 different gel food colors: peach (for the bottom half of the cake and half of the flowers), copper/fleshtone (for the top half of the cake) and fuchsia (for the remaining flowers). The fuchsia was too purple and not quite pink enough so I would just use bright pink and add in some purple/fuchsia if it needed it. I used a Wilton 2D to pipe the flowers. Just hold the tip vertically onto the cake and squeeze until the flower has built up a bit, add a slight twist while squeezing. Stop the pressure and then pull away.
It was really a delightful tasting cake, not too sweet and subtle fruitiness. The fresh peaches and raspberries were awesome. Let me know if you try it out and alter the flavors!