I was planning to post a recipe for, you know, real food, no dessert/breakfast food, but this recipe actually came about out of necessity. My parents rolled into Boston Sunday with 1. boots which I mistakenly packed when I was moving locations. I can’t be in fall-like weather without boots, obviously! 2. a brown bag full of peaches fresh from my Dad’s trees. I’ve been waiting FOR-EVER for fresh fruit from my Dad’s trees and 3. pudding shots. Yeap, my mom made pudding shots for a concert and I got the extras. But not just any pudding shots- cupcake pudding shots. Let’s just say I’ve been having “shots” of cake vodka at really weird times of the day and it’s been glorious!

But back to the peaches! So, back in the day when I was in 1st-grade-ish and we were living in MA, my Dad planted some apple trees and I was stoked! Even at 1st-grade-ish, I loved me some fresh picked apples. But then we moved. To a house on the golf course. Down south. There wasn’t any space for gardening and I was bummed. BUT, then we moved back up north and my Dad plopped a few more fruit trees in the ground and I was stoked all over again! “4 years”, he told me. “You’ll have fresh apples by the time you graduate high school”. Then, “well…ok. Definitely by the time you graduate college”.

My college graduation was over 5 years ago (Oh My God! I’m so old!!) and the fresh fruit is just rolling in now. It’s not apples but I’m not complaining because these peaches are amazing! I’ve had about 3 today and the only reason I’m sharing with my roommates is because there were A LOT of peaches in the bag Dad brought me. I mean, clearly he must have felt guilty after the 9 years of promising me fresh-from-the-tree fruit. Clearly! 😉

Peach Cornmeal Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
from The Frosted Vegan

For the Cake:

• 1 1/4 c. cornmeal
• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking power
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 c. agave nectar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 3/4 c. non-dairy milk
• 1/2 c. fresh peach jam (or 1 peach, pureed)*
• 1-2 peaches, sliced

For the glaze:

• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. coconut milk

* I used 1/2 cup of peach jam that my mom’s friend, Lu, made with my Dad’s peaches. I have not tried the 1 peach pureed.

To prepare the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a cake pan and set aside.
2. Combine the cornmeal, whole wheat flour,  salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir until combined. Add in vanilla, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, non dairy milk, and peach jam (or pureed peach). Stir until dry ingredients are combined with wet ingredients. Pour batter into greased cake pan.
3. Arrange sliced peaches on the top.
4. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Poke 10 holes in the top of the cake, scattered throughout.

To make the glaze:

1. Combine brown sugar and coconut milk in small saucepan over medium heat. Continuously stir sugar mixture until brown sugar has dissolved. Pour glaze over cake.

Store covered in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Yields 8 slices.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe. Cornbread and peaches are not two of my favorite foods and wouldn’t be something that I would normally choose to eat. This cake though is delicious. It’s not super sweet so you could definitely serve it along side your coffee or save it for dessert and serve it warm with some vanilla ice cream. It’s very moist and the glaze on top is oh-my-gosh-I-could-eat-this-with-a-spoon good. I would recommend making extras and putting in on ice cream, or pancakes, or oatmeal, or french toast, or basically anything that allows you to consume it regularly. You won’t be sorry!

I know I’m making peach cakes this week but don’t be surprised if I start whipping out the fall recipes next week. You’ve been warned!

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