Peach Blueberry Cake

What a dilemma, naming this peach and blueberry cake! There's a kinda-sorta cake that lines the pan and cups the rainbow-colored fruit. But is it actually a peach and blueberry tart? Maybe but not in the traditional sense, there is much more filling. Is it a peach and blueberry pie then? Definitely not, even if the proportion of filling to cake is more like a deep-dish pie than a tart. There's just one solution! Make it and decide for yourself what this genre-bending summer dessert should be called.

Peach Blueberry Cake ♥ KitchenParade.com, a rustic summer cake, part tart, part deep-dish pie. Rave reviews!

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  • "I suspended disbelief at the baking time ... it was wonderful!" ~ Mireille
  • "... it came out like a dream. Really delicious ..." ~ LeLo in NoPo

The First, the Last of Summer Peaches.

Come early August, there’s a brief window when the blueberries are still plentiful and inexpensive and the local peaches are ripe and luscious.

Last summer, there was no getting enough of this country-rustic cake. The peach man at the farmers market took notice, grinning each time I stopped by for another lug.

Cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, cherries and apricots are one thing. But peaches are heaven you can hold in your hand.

So hurry, don’t let this year’s peach and blueberry window close without trying this delicious cake. Along with the peach man, your family will soon be grinning.

Peach Blueberry Cake ♥ KitchenParade.com, a rustic summer cake, part tart, part deep-dish pie. Rave reviews!

Is This Fruity Dessert Really a Cake? A Tart? A Pie?

You can see, here, that this is "almost" a peach blueberry pie and "almost" a deep-dish peach-blueberry tart.

But somehow? It's still cake!

No matter what you call this rustic fruit-filled dessert cake, it looks and tastes like summer.

FYI, the fruit didn't set up here as much as it usually does. I suspect an hour in the fridge would have made it quite firm but I happen to like the soft, deep flavors of fruit served at room temperature so left it this way.

How to Make Peach Blueberry Cake

The detailed recipe is written in traditional recipe form below but here are the highlights in three easy steps. You can do this!


  • MIX & FORM & CHILL THE CAKEY-CRUST Mix the "cake" ingredients in a food processor, then press the buttery mixture into a springform pan just like a press-in pie crust. Chill the pan, helping it to firm back up before hitting the oven. Word to the wise, you'll wonder if there's another to spread across the entire pan, there is, just be patient and use your fingers to spread it evenly across the pan's bottom and sides.

  • MIX THE FRUITY FILLING Mix chopped peaches and blueberries with sugar (for sweetening and thickening), flour (for thickening), cornstarch (for thickening), a little cinnamon, lemon zest and a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (for balancing the sweet fruit). Pour it into the cakey-crust.

  • BAKE FOR WHAT WILL SEEM LIKE (AND IS) A LONG, LONG WHILE This is going to be hard. Cover the springform pan loosely with foil, then bake for almost two hours, an hour and 45 minutes to be exact. I know, this sounds crazy! But it works, I promise. That said, after an hour, I do check every 15 minutes, just in case.

You Might Wonder Be Wondering ...

Have another question? Ask away, I'll do my best to answer!


  • Should the peaches be peeled? No! There's no need to peel the peaches, wow, what a pain that is. Good news, the peach skins will not only melt indiscernibly into the fruit mixture but also thicken the fruit mixture thanks to the pectin found in the skins. Just cut 'em up!

  • What about trying other fruit? Yes! The peach-blueberry combo is wonderful both visually and eat-ily but other fruit may well work too. (And commenters on the inspiring recipe agree.) Ripe nectarines are an obvious substitute for peaches. But I keep wanting to slip in some some halved fresh figs on top. Other fruits? Sour cherries? Gorgeous. Pineapple? Maybe. Mango? Yes! Apple? Maybe. Rhubarb and strawberries? Again, I think so but taste for sweetness. When choosing fruit, keep in mind that peaches are juicy, blueberries turn soft with heat.

  • What about frozen fruit? I think so. Since for me this is a summer cake, I haven't ever tried it with frozen fruit. But I do think frozen fruit would do well. That said, I wouldn't thaw the fruit first, you don't want to lose the juice even if the frosty fruit could well affect the already long baking time.

For Best Results

For my weekly column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I interviewed chefs and translated their restaurant recipes for home kitchens. The most iluminating question? "How can a home cook ensure the same results?" So now I ask that question of myself, too, for my own recipes. Have another question? Ask away, I'll do my best to answer!


Choose Oven Temperature Based on the Color of Your Springform Pan This cake is baked in a springform pan, that's the one often used for making cheesecake. It's special because the sides of the pan are separate from the bottom base of the pan. Loosen the clasp on the outside the side of the pan, you can carefully lift it off the cake without disturbing the sides.

But! The most important feature of a springform pan is its color. Some are non-stick and dark in color. If yours is a dark-colored pan, set the oven at 350F/180C. Other pans are light / silvery in color. If yours is a light-colored pan, set the oven 25 degrees higher, that's 375C.

Ignore this common convention connecting pan color and oven temperature at your peril! That's because of the especially long baking time, exacerbating the impact of a dark pan.

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this simple summer cake hits the mark, go ahead, save and share! I'd be honored ...


Peach Blueberry Cake ♥ KitchenParade.com, a rustic summer cake, part tart, part deep-dish pie. Rave reviews!



PEACH BLUEBERRY CAKE

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Oven time: 1-3/4 hours
Serves about 10
    CAKE
  • 1-1/2 cups (190g) flour
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 113g) cold butter, diced
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    FRUIT FILLING
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (16g) flour
  • 1 tablespoon (8g) cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 2 pounds (900g) perfectly ripe peaches, peels on, pitted and chopped
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

CAKE Briefly pulse the dry ingredients (see ALANNA’s TIPS) in a food processor (see TIPS). Add the butter and pulse until the mixture becomes a coarse meal with some pea-sized lumps of butter. Add the egg and vanilla, pulse just until the dough forms a ball. With floured hands, press the dough, sides first, into a 9-inch (that's what I use) or 9.5-inch springform pan (the springform's pan color is important, please see TIPS). Refrigerate while mixing the Fruit Filling.

FRUIT FILLING Heat the oven to 375F or 350F (that's 190C or 350F, see TIPS for which oven temperature to pick). Combine the dry ingredients (see TIPS) in a large bowl, then stir in the fruit, zest and lemon juice. Spoon fruit topping evenly onto the crust.

BAKE Cover the top of the springform pan loosely with foil. Bake until the Fruit Filling is bubbly and the crust golden, about 1-3/4 hours.

It’s not a typo, this cake does indeed bake for nearly two hours. If you like, test the cake after an hour and every 15 minutes thereafter. I find it isn't needed but it might make you feel better to check! Do be sure to cover with foil so the top doesn’t burn.

REST Remove from the oven, remove the foil and let the cake rest for about 20 minutes: not to worry, the fruit filling will firm up as the cake cools. Once it's cooled a bit, carefully remove the sides of the springform pan, slipping a knife along the sides if needed.

SERVE Serve at room temperature. Frozen yogurt on the side is excellent, so is a spoonful of softly whipped cream, but really, no topping is needed.

ALANNA's TIPS Pan color makes a huge difference! If your springform pan is light in color, bake this cake at 375F, if it’s dark, at 350F. The accepted wisdom among expert bakers is to reduce baking temperature by 25 degrees whenever using a dark pan. Should you spray the springform with baking spray? To be careful, do grease the pan. I've had no trouble removing the cake from my springform pan, but others have. I've mixed the cake batter with a mixer as well as a food processor and it does work. Without a side-by-side comparison, I believe that the food processor yields a lighter, more cake-like crust, where the mixer yields something thinner and denser. Mind you, both are good! When pressing the cake dough into the springform pan, be patient. At times, you'll wonder if there is enough. There is, just gently work it down the sides and across the bottom of the pan, paying special attention to the corners. Once, I accidentally omitted the sugar in the fruit. But was still plenty sweet and perhaps better if serving, say, for a morning bread, instead of a dessert. The term "dry ingredients" is kitchen shorthand for ingredients such as flour, sugar and spices along with leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda. For a mid-winter taste of summer, make this with frozen peaches and blueberries.
FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2006/08/peach-blueberry-cake.php
NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving (assumes 10): 289 Calories; 9g Tot Fat; 6g Sat Fat; 45mg Cholesterol; 121mg Sodium; 48g Carb; 3g Fiber; 29g Sugar; 4g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 6 & PointsPlus 8 & SmartPoints 14 & Freestyle 11 & myWW green 11 & blue 11 & purple 11 & future WW points CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1/3 slice (1g protein).
Adapted from the much-missed Gourmet magazine, July 2005, where it's explained that the long baking time prevents the ripe fruit from releasing their juices. FYI the comments in the original recipe on Epicurious are quite useful.

More Peaches? Definitely More Blueberries!

and definitely more
~ Fruity Desserts too! ~

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Roasted Peaches ♥ KitchenParade.com, such an easy summer dessert, peaches with brown sugar, cinnamon, basil, sour cream.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade
2006, 2008, 2011 & 2022

Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Anonymous7/12/2007

    Oh boy!! I started drooling when I saw that!! I'm not kidding--real drool. How unseemly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous7/12/2007

    I'm having a cup of coffee at the moment but it would be greatly improved with a piece of this cake! I also baked a peach cake today and am amazed at how versatile peaches are in baking. I usually just eat them out of hand so I never get to bake them.

    This is a fantastic recipe, Alanna!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7/12/2007

    I suspended disbelief at the baking time and made this last night ... it was wonderful! Thanks so much for this recipe! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7/12/2007

    I have to try this one, and what a fabulous excuse to buy a new springform pan! You know we AGD's are always looking for an excuse to shop :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. We landed upon some very beautiful and very ripe peaches at the farmer's market this weekend, and with a bag of frozen blueberries we picked earlier this season, I knew I could make this. What a great alternative to pie crust: I don't have a springform pan so I pressed the dough into my stone deep dish pie pan and it came out like a dream. Really delicious, and the lemon (I added extra lemon juice) really gave it depth and cut the sweetness. Shared it with a neighbor, and I'd definitely make this again. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lelo ~ Yay, so glad it worked for you! It's especially good to know that it works in a deep dish pie pan too!! Thanks for taking the time to let me know ...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous8/28/2008

    I made this cake for the first time tonight. I adjusted the temperature accordingly but I ended up with a burnt cake! I was SO disappointed :( I took it out before the time was up, thank goodness, or the fruit filling would have burnt as well.

    The problem with this cake??... I think the cooking time is way too long. And I paid great attention to the length of time it called for, thinking at first that it was a typo. But then I read and reread the tips and it said that no, the cooking time was in fact close to 2hrs. I didn't want to disturb it too early in the cooking time, but geesh, there was no fear of that! I think an hour would have been plenty of time.

    The filling has great potential. It's the perfect amount of blueberries in proportion to the peaches. Some recipes have too many blueberries and you can hardly tell the peach is even there. However, I think a shorter cooking time would have left the fruit with a brighter taste and appearance.

    I ended up scraping the fruit off it and eating it so I wouldn't feel so bad about wasting the rest of it. What a bummer :( I'm scared to try this recipe again...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Lizzie, So sorry you had trouble, what a disappointment.

    Please be assured that this recipe has been tested not just once but many times, including as recently as a month ago here in my own kitchen (plus the commenters, plus at least three of my own friends that made/loved the cake).

    The baking time IS a long time, but even then, it's always good to watch timing carefully the first time a new recipe is used. I suspect the difference in our results is either in the oven temperature, the pan, what was used to grease the pan, who knows what else? Perhaps even the sweetness of the fruit.

    I guess it goes to show that cooking is as much art as science. Still, it does nothing to change your disappointment, for this I am truly sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Janet on Pinterest6/06/2024

    This was amazing and so quick and easy to put together. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna