A super easy fresh nectarine or peach cake recipe made with sour cream. Moist and delicious, a real summer treat.
One very easy cake recipe, which can be made either with nectarines or peaches, whatever you happen to have.
And not only nectarines or peaches are suitable for this cake, but it will also definitely be just as delicious with apricots, fresh cherries or sour cherries, gooseberries, or even apples. If you still have lots of peaches, try this Peach Cobbler Pound Cake Recipe or make some Peach Jam without Pectin.
The kind of cake recipe to have on hand for any summer gathering or celebration, you can eat it from the hand, no need for a fork. The peach cake is also made in no time, the ingredients are cheap and you probably always have them in the house
And the best thing about it is that you can use whatever fruit you like or happens to be in season. And I have yet to meet one person who didn't like this cake, well except somebody going completely sugar-free or something like that.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE FRESH PEACH CAKE
Fruit:
- You can use either nectarines or peaches to make this sour cream cake.
- When choosing the fruit, look for sweet, ripe yet still a little firm peaches or nectarines, they should not be overripe and too soft or the cake will become soggy.
- And if peaches or nectarines are not in season, you can also use cherries (sweet or sour), gooseberries (love this version, it is rather sour and I like that), plums or apples.
Sour cream:
- I normally use smetana, an Eastern European sort of sour cream with a fat content of about 30% .
- When I don't have smetana, I use the German Schmand, which is very similar and also has about 30% fat.
- Creme fraiche would be fine as well. American sour cream is fine as well, although it has a lower fat content.
Butter:
- Make sure you use unsalted butter and that you remove the butter from the fridge a few hours before baking, it has to be soft.
HOW TO MAKE PEACH OR NECTARINE CAKE?
Should you peel the peaches?
You can remove the peel of the peaches or nectarines if you wish, but I never bother. In case you do want to, here's how to do it:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Carefully place the peaches inside the pot and leave them for about 15-20 seconds, the peel should split.
- Remove them with a slotted spoon and give them to a bowl of ice water.
- Remove the peel of the peaches/nectarines using a paring knife.
- Now you can halve the fruit, remove the stone and cut the fruit into slices or cubes. Give them to a sieve until you need them.
Batter:
- Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff. Set aside.
- Give the egg yolks to another bowl and add 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ ¾ cup of the granulated sugar, vanilla extract, sour cream/smetana/creme fraiche. Beat until creamy.
- In another bowl, mix together the flour and the baking powder. Carefully fold them into the butter-sour cream mixture.
- Carefully, fold in the stiff egg whites as well.
- Pour the batter into a baking tray of about 21x32 cm/ 8x13 inch, which you lined with baking paper.
- Arrange the peaches or nectarines on top and sprinkle them with the remaining sugar.
Bake the fresh peach cake:
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven, or until the peach cake (or nectarine cake) is cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 20 – 30 minutes.
- Cut into squares and serve either lukewarm or at room temperature.
WHAT ELSE TO DO WITH PEACHES OR NECTARINES?
We go through “tones” of peaches and nectarines every summer, we eat them fresh, I grill them for salads or side dishes and I bake a lot with them.
Why not try another amazing nectarine or peach cake, this Easy Fresh Peach or Nectarine Cake is one of the most popular summer recipes on the blog.
You can also make delicious peach or nectarine jam following this recipe for apricot jam or you can can the fruit following this recipe for canned apricots.
Peach Cake with Sour Cream
Ingredients
- 1 kg nectarines or peaches or other seasonal fruit 2.2 lbs
- 2 eggs large Germany, extra-large US
- 200 g granulated sugar 7 oz/ 1 cup, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 g sour cream/creme fraiche/smetana 8.8 oz/ 1 cup
- 100 g unsalted butter 3.5 oz/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon , soft
- 250 g all-purpose flour 8.8 oz/ 2 cups + 1 tablespoon
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking dish of approximately 21x32 cm/ 8x13 inch with baking paper.
- Prepare the fruit. Stone the nectarines or peaches and cut them into larger cubes or slices. Place in a colander and let drain slightly until you make the batter.
- Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff and glossy.
- Beat the egg yolks, 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ ¾ cup of the sugar, vanilla extract, smetana/sour cream, and soft butter until creamy.
- In another bowl, mix the flour and the baking powder. Incorporate into the butter-egg mixture.
- Fold in the stiff egg whites carefully.
- Assemble cake: Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Arrange the fruit on top and sprinkle the fruit with the remaining 50 g/ 1.7 oz/ ¼ cup sugar.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the cake is baked through.
- Serve lukewarm or at room temperature.
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
A wonderful summer cake...perfect for the stone fruit season, Adina.
mjskitchen says
What great timing! Monday I bought a piece of sour cream apricot cake and it reminded me as to how very good these cakes are. Since peaches is my favorite summer fruit (right next to watermelon), I know that I need to make this. This looks so good and I love how easy it is to make. My kind of baking. 🙂 Thanks!
Monica says
A simple moist cake makes such a great bed for seasonal fruit. This looks perfect for summer!
Anca says
Sounds delicious. x I hope you have a wonderful time in your holiday.
Sissi says
You know, I've never baked with nectarines but this sounds like an excellent idea! You mentioned peaches and I realised this cake looks much like my mum's easy peach cake I really love.
grace says
what a pretty cake! i like that a good portion of it is fruit, and it looks to be a unique texture too. nice!
Jill says
How much flour????
Adina says
Sorry about that, Jill. I added the flour amount, I can't believe I left it out. Thanks for pointing it out.
Ann says
I might have missed it (sorry!), but I can't seem to find where to put the yolks. You did write something about a butter-egg mixture though, so I assumed the first bowl is where they go into, is that correct?
Adina says
Hi Ann, you beat them with the sugar and butter. Sorry, I wasn't that clear, I will rewrite the recipe.
Ann says
Oh my, I completely forgot about having commented, very sorry about that! The reason I noticed is that even without being completely sure whether I was doing everything correctly, I decided to make this cake. And what can I say? It was fantastic! In fact, it was so good that I am planning to make it again this weekend for my colleagues to enjoy, as well.
So thank you for the clarification 🙂
Adina says
So happy to hear it, Ann. Thank you.
Thao @ In Good Flavor says
This cake looks delicious, Adina!! I would like to think that with all the chunks of peach/nectarines, this cake is not entirely sinful (hee hee).
Kelly | Foodtasia says
Adina, this cake looks wonderfully delicious! Can't get enough peaches this season!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Adina - This cake looks delicious! I still have several peaches left that I need to quickly use up! This cake is just what I need to make.