Last week, I was at the grocery store, when I caught a whiff of something in the air.
It was a familiar scent. It was sweet and distinct, and brought me back to summers spent in North Carolina. I followed my nose….and it brought me directly to the pile of the sexiest fruit there ever was — peaches.
I thought, it couldn’t be true, it was too early for peach season. But sure enough, I picked up one of those bad boys, gave em a whiff, and I knew they were ready for my mouth.
I went into the store just intending to buy toilet paper, and came out with 6 peaches. What next?
Admittedly, I woke up in the bad mood that day. There was nothing really wrong, so call it waking up on the wrong side of the bed, or as my friend said, "there’s lots of feels right now with the new moon in cancer btw.”
Right before grabbing these peaches, I stopped at my favorite local fish shop, Shipwreck. The owner could tell I was down and gave me some advice,
You know, sometimes you just gotta put on some Sade, make a nice meal for yourself, pour a glass of wine…or hey maybe smoke a joint, open the window, and smile. Look, I got Sade playing right now!
He was right. At some point in my life I figured out my surefire 3 joys that will get me out of any funk. (I suggest you know yours as well whenever you’re in an emotional bind). And he pretty much named all of them.
Singing all the words to my favorite songs
Cooking / Baking
Smiling even when I don’t feel like it
Flashback to the supermarket. I went there in hopes of finding some cooking inspiration. So when I saw those peaches, I knew I was ready to get out of my feelings and follow Joey’s advice. I was going to go home, put on some Sade, make something delicious, open a window, drink a glass of wine, and smile my face off.
One of the reasons I love to bake is that it brings me back to my roots. I grew up sitting at the kitchen counter and watching my mom bake, chitchatting about our days, and stirring the sauce when she said it was time. And no matter what shit was going on in our lives, we could always sit at the table, enjoy the food, and go “mmmmm” - and sometimes that’s all that needed to be said. Call it simpler times - but I believe that food is healing.
The baking process alone is a meditation. There’s the meticulous following of a recipe that makes you feel like you have control over life. There’s the focusing on measuring out the exact correct amount of baking soda. There’s the inevitable zoning out, thinking of whatever you feel like, while you beat the egg/sugar mixture for 3 mins (which is enough time to go down a rabbit hole, but not enough time that you get into a doom spiral) Even doing the damn dishes and putting your kitchen back in order after your emotional baking frenzy is therapy. And, if you’re doing it right, your hands are covered in some sort of butter or flour and can’t even look at your phone and be reminded of the 10 million things on your to-do list or who is hotter than you on Instagram. It’s just you and the ingredients.
And taking that first bite of my baked good makes me feel like superwoman. I made THIS with just some damn flour, eggs, and sugar?! Talk about a confidence booster when you’re feeling low.
So back to these peaches. When I was thinking of cooking up something real nice for myself, I thought of one of my favorite Alison Roman Recipes - the sticky apple cake.
I love it for all of the reasons Roman describes:
This delight of a treat is a quick one-bowl cake that kind of tastes like a giant pancake with a little upsidedown cake energy to it (i.e. yellow cake with juicy, jammy fruit on the bottom). You don’t need anything special to make this other than a cake pan, and even then, you can improvise.
I wanted to sub apples for these juicy peaches because I could just imagine all of the sweet peach juice making it xxxtra sticky. I wanted it to take me back to those summers in North Carolina when that peach juice dribbles down your arm and you just lick it off. I wanted to feel good.
Sticky Peach Cake
Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
Non-stick spray (optional)
⅔ cup light brown sugar, divided
4 peaches, cored and sliced (not too thin- you want some texture here)
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
¾ cup buttermilk
Let’s do it!
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Melt the butter in a small pot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring or whisking occasionally until the butter starts to brown and foam, 2 to 3 minutes. It should smell like toasted nuts and be the color of caramel; add the vanilla bean if you’re using it and remove the pot from heat to cool.
2. Spray an 8”–9” cake pan (springform or regular), pie plate, 1.5qt baking dish, etc. with non-stick spray (you can use softened butter to grease, too). If you are less confident in your upside-down cake flipping skills, line the cake pan with parchment (leaving some hanging out of the pan for easy lifting after).
3. Scatter half the brown sugar (⅓ cup) on the bottom of the cake pan and top with sliced peaches; set aside.
4. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and remaining ⅓ cup brown sugar together in a medium bowl.
5. Whisk eggs and buttermilk together in a small bowl (or, just add the eggs to the measuring cup you’ve measured the buttermilk in and whisk in there). Add the vanilla extract, if using. Add buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing just to blend. (Don’t overmix here, or the cake will become tight and tough.)
6. Remove the vanilla bean if it’s in the butter. Whisk in the vanilla-y browned butter until the batter is smooth and streak-free. (Again, don’t overmix it, just until everything is well blended.).
7. Pour batter over the peaches, smooth the top (although the batter is pretty viscous, almost like pancake batter and should smooth itself), and bake until cake is golden brown on top, pulls away from the sides of the pan, and springs back lightly when pressed in the center, 25–30 minutes.
8. Almost immediately (but without rushing or panicking), place a plate on top of the cake pan. Flip it over gently.
Happy baking - and don’t forget to smile.
xoxo
love ya mucho,
Tessa