Olive Oil Peach Cake
An 8-inch olive oil cake with lemon in the batter, sugared peaches, and vanilla whipped cream. Mix it, bake it, then leave it alone on the rack for an hour before anything goes on top.
Method
Heat the oven to 375°F.
Brush an 8-inch round cake pan with olive oil. Line the bottom with parchment, brush the parchment too, then dust the inside with 1 tablespoon of flour. Tap out whatever does not stick.
In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 1½ cups of flour with the salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Put 1 cup of the sugar and the lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle — a hand mixer in a large bowl is the same job. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until it smells like lemon and looks a little damp. That is the lemon flavor; skipping it leaves you with zest that just sits there.
Add the eggs and beat on high until the mixture is pale and thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to medium and stream in the ¾ cup of olive oil. Beat until it is fully in, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and lemon juice and beat on low just until they disappear.
Stop the mixer. Add half the dry ingredients and beat on low until most of the flour is gone. Stop again, add the rest, and beat on low until you cannot see dry flour. Stop there. Overmixing is how this cake gets tough.
Scrape the batter into the pan and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over the top. That crust is the point of the extra sugar. Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out mostly clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a paring knife around the edge, turn the cake out onto a wire rack, and leave it there for at least an hour. Cutting it warm will tear it.
Toss the sliced peaches with a few tablespoons of sugar — more if they are tart, less if they are already dripping. Let them sit 10 to 15 minutes.
In a clean mixer bowl with the whisk (or a hand mixer), beat the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste on high until you have stiff peaks, 2 to 3 minutes. Refrigerate until you need it. It will hold a few hours.
Spread the cream over the cooled cake and pile on the peaches. Serve that afternoon. Whipped cream does not wait overnight.
Notes from the line
Mostly clean on the toothpick is the right doneness. A wet crumb in the center will finish as it cools. A dry toothpick is a dry cake.
The book slices this into eight and dollops each plate so the cream does not slump. Piling it on the whole cake is what we did, and it is fine if you are eating it now.
Adapted from The Wishbone Kitchen. Headnote and method rewritten for Dad Made.