Sweet peach cake with raspberry sauce (w/whole spelt)

One of those very simple, all-in-one-bowl, all-from-the-pantry cakes. Kids love it and I don't mind having a mouth full myself...with a small espresso on the side. Well balanced between dry and moist, not too sweet, maybe a bit salty (only the cook will notice), slightly peachy, very enjoyable. Giada, the chef, recommended putting a thick layer of icing on top and cinnamon inside. I swapped icing for raspberry sauce and cinnamon for lemon zest. And some white flour for spelt. 

The peaches, I kept. I had a big can of them in my small pantry... taking up space. The raspberry sauce, I had left over from the raspberry cream. Raspberry preserves would have been fine too. 

I baked the cake in a glass dish, just like Giada said to do. I would have done it even if she didn't ask for glass. I'm gradually switching to using ceramic/glass bakeware exclusively. Teflon just gets ugly, old and it's bad for you. Cakes in teflon don't bake evenly, the sides bake a lot faster than the center, because metal is a better heat conductor than glass. Therefore, a cake in a glass dish will bake or start baking a bit more slowly, but the heatwave will not hit the batter. Instead, it will...hug it and keep it warm. So sometimes you'll need to add 5-10 minutes to the oven time (with the oven turned off, I guess). 

I've been observing the different results from using different types of bakeware for several months now, but this time, I'm amazed. The beautiful crust reminds me of a crust of a good bread. Evenly brown and hard on the sides, bottom and top. There is something very attractive about a good crust, makes your whole house look good. Beats sweeping!

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
time: 15 min preparation + 1hr 5 min baking + 30 min cooling = 1 hr 50 min

ingredients

• butter, for greasing baking dish
• 15-ounce (450 g) can peach halves in juice, drained, patted dry with a paper towel and diced (dice-size pieces)
• 1 1/2 cups (210 g) regular flour
• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon (8 g) salt
• 1 teaspoon (8 g) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
• 3/4 cups (180 ml) vegetable oil
• zest from 1 lemon
• seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
• about 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
• powder sugar

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F (fan forced function). Butter a 26x17x6 cm (10x7x2 inch) glass baking dish. 
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flours, salt, baking powder and soda.
3. In a bowl of a standing mixer, using a whisk attachment on medium/high speed, beat eggs with sugar, oil, lemon zest and vanilla seeds, for 1-2 minutes. Turn mixer off. Add peach pieces and mix them in with a spatula. Add flour mix and continue mixing till combined. Pour the batter into the prepared form.
4. Place it in a hot oven for 65 minutes, till the toothpick from the middle comes out free of crumbs.
5. Meanwhile, prepare raspberry sauce. In a small pot on medium heat, bring preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. You can then force them through a sieve to eliminate seeds for more a refined effect. 
6. Pour a tablespoon of the sauce on a dessert plate, top it with a piece of cake and some powder sugar. Enjoy it!