Roasted Peach Crumb Cake

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Whenever I wander through the market near my home in Jerusalem, I'm drawn – both by smell and by sight – to the mounds of ripe peaches and nectarines snuggled up alongside the plums, grapes, cherries and melons at every fruit stand.
Nothing quite compares to the juicy perfection of a perfectly ripe peach or nectarine. And while I love to enjoy them fresh – pausing only to wipe off the juice that has inevitably escaped on my face – using them in desserts is also exciting.
But before just tossing some peach chunks into this crumb cake, I treat them to a little something extra – a stint in the oven. Roasting the peaches before use gives them a chance to get nice and tender and develop an extra layer of roasted flavor. The cinnamon-spiced cake and the sweet crumbly streusel are a perfect pair to the sweet fruit, and this dish is ideal for breakfast, snacking or dessert.

Roasted Peach Crumb Cake:

2-3 peaches or nectarines, quartered

Cake:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla
⅓ cup oil
45 g (3 tablespoons) butter or margarine, melted

Streusel:
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
pinch salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted (115g)

Place the peaches face down on a baking pan or sheet and roast at 225 C for 10-15 minutes, until just tender.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk, vanilla, eggs, oil and butter. Mix all the ingredients together until moistened, making sure no streaks of flour below.
Pour the batter in to a greased 31×22 cm. pan or the equivalent. Set aside.

Mix the sugars, salt, cinnamon and flour together. Add in the melted butter, and mix with a fork until crumbly and all the flour is integrated.
Dice the cooled peaches in to chunks and press in to the top of the cake batter. Top with the streusel.
Bake on 350 F for 45-60 minutes or until tests done with a toothpick.

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