Almond Skillet Cake with Nectarines

Nectarines from Sunnyslope Ranch, Wapato, WA

Juicy organic nectarines from Sunnyslope Ranch in Wapato, WA! Come down to our farm store and pick up a handful — or a case — of your own.

1 1/4 cups white flour
1/2 cups almond meal (also called almond flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (use organic evaporated cane juice if you can)
10 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 lbs of nectarines, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Whisk the flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Measure 1/2 cups melted butter and remove it to a small bowl. Increase the heat to medium; sprinkle the brown sugar into the remaining melted butter, still in the skillet, and place the nectarines into the butter-sugar mixture, in a pretty pattern if you like but at least evenly spaced, to cook. Let them go for about 5 minutes which should be about the time it takes to put together your batter.

Now, back to the melted butter in your small bowl. To the butter, add the buttermilk, lemon juice and eggs and whisk until the yolks are broken and everything is combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold just until combined; the batter will be fairly thick and slightly sticky.

Carefully remove the skillet from the burner to a trivet or hot pad on the counter. Dollop the batter into the pan until it covers the nectarines. I found that almost a dozen small spoonfuls placed strategically worked best; I could then use a spatula to spread the batter to cover the fruit, without upsetting the pattern of the nectarines. Just as carefully, move the skillet into the preheated oven and bake for 25-35 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream for a special treat.

We thank CookCanRead.wordpress.com for this recipe.