Spiced Peach Shortcake

You know you need another reason to eat some of those delicious Summer peaches that are ripe right now, don't you? And all the better if those amazingly tartandsweetatthesametime stone fruits are presented in an old-fashioned way.

Add a little dollop of cinnamon whipped cream to the top of a slice of this perfectly moist dessert cake and you'll be instantly transported to your Grandmother's back porch swing on the most quintessential Summer evening of your life.

Spiced Peach Shortcake

2 just-right Peaches, sliced into 16ths
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup Sugar
1 ¾ tsp. Baking Powder
pinch of Salt
6 Tbspn. Butter
¾ cup Milk
Cinnamon
Raw Sugar crystals

Preheat oven to 400. Grease and flour an 8-inch round cake pan.

Stir flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl until combined. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour the milk over the flour mixture. Toss with a fork just until blended. Do not over mix.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Smooth top. Arrange peaches over batter in circular pattern. Sprinkle with cinnamon and raw sugar.

Bake at 400 until wooden pick inserted into center of cake is withdrawn clean and top is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool 15 minutes.

Invert cake onto plate. Return to upright position on wire rack. Cool until serving time.

This cake is quite possibly even more delicious with pear slices on top. I might try it with blueberries next. I have also made this cake without fruit on top (just the sugar in the raw), and served it with strawberries and cream. It makes the BEST shortcake ever. The cake shown in these photos was a recipe and a half baked in a 10 inch pan.

If you aren't drooling by now, there is something very wrong and you need to go see a psyciatrist immediately.