fresh peach cake

two things occur to me tonight:  first, i have been making a lot of desserts lately.  and secondly, i have failed to document this peach cake recipe.  with the help of some fruit (sadly obtained from the grocery store...peach season is basically over), i am rectifying the latter by continuing the tradition of the former.

i obtained this particular recipe from my mother, and the sheet of paper states that it is from august 1997.  i don't know where she obtained it, but it's been a favorite summer dessert for years.

ingredients:
(cake batter)
- 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter/margarine
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk (i use the powdered buttermilk instead of buying the regular liquid...it lasts forever and i don't end up with a bunch of leftover buttermilk at the end of the recipe)
- 2 cup plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups chopped peaches (can substitute blueberries, strawberries, or rhubarb)

(topping)
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 stick butter/margarine
- 1/4 cup milk

preparation:
in a fairly large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter; add the eggs and the vanilla.  in a separate container, sift the flour with the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, and stir until the batter is thoroughly mixed.  add the chopped peaches and stir until well coated.

pour the cake batter into a greased 9" x 13" pan.  bake at 300°F for approximately 50 minutes, or until the cake is browned.  a toothpick should come out clean, and the batter should be set (ie, not still liquidish.  yes, that's a technical term).

to prepare the topping, boil the ingredients together for 3 minutes and pour over the cake while it is still hot from the oven.  note: do not stir the mixture while it's boiling...it won't crystallize nearly so nicely if you do.  also, if you judiciously perforate the top of the cake with the toothpick before adding the topping, the sugar will be better able to penetrate.  or maybe it just seems that way.  i'm not quite certain.

if desired, serve the cake with whipped cream or cool whip.  sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top.  i don't much care for the whipped cream, but some people do.  and some of those people will even try to convince you to give them allllll the cake!

verdict:
it goes without saying that this is a wonderful dessert.  it probably also goes without saying that moms always make recipes better.  still, i'm quite pleased with how well i can make this cake turn out.