Peach Coffee Cake

Such a dark and dreary day here in Vermont today. Maybe it's fitting given the horrible act that transpired in Boston this week. I know tragedies like that bring a lot of people down, and make you doubt there is any goodness left in the world. Some people prefer to tune it out and refuse to watch news coverage or read the paper because "it's too depressing." I feel the complete opposite.  I believe it is important to hear and/or read the stories of the victims as a way of honoring them. I also like to find the uplifting stories that are intertwined with the horrific ones. For every bad there is a good, and that is something worth seeking. If you can't find the amazing stories of courage and heroism from this weeks tragedy, or if you want to get your mind off it, pick up the book "American Story: A Lifetime Search for Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things" by Bob Dotson. There are many admirable and uplifting stories in the book, and it just may restore your faith in humanity.

Ok, on to food. This is a food blog after all!  This is the one new recipe that I tried this week. I came across it on Pinterest a while ago and knew I wanted to make it at some point.  Since my son is home all week on spring break, I figured this would be a good thing for him to snack on.  The original recipe is from the Pine Cones & Acorns blog. Unfortunately, someone else was using her picture and recipe on their site, and that's where I ended up when I clicked on her picture.  Yes, they linked to her site (in a barely noticeable kind of way), but I still think it's wrong for people out there to create blogs based solely and completely on other people's hard work. As far as I'm concerned it's stealing. Anyway, even though I deviated from the original recipe a little, this still turned out amazing. It's a delicious coffee cake that we all enjoyed, so thank you Pine Cones & Acorns! 

  
Peach Coffee Cake (adapted from www.pineconesandacorn.blogspot.ca)

1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:  
5 large peaches, diced
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Glaze:
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla 
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp half & half

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla until well combined and light in color (about 2 minutes). In a separate bowl stir together the flour,sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (do not over mix). Pour batter into baking dish.

In a medium bowl, add all the topping ingredients and stir to incorporate. Spread topping over the top of the batter. Place in oven and bake for about 1hr & 15 minutes - start checking at the hour mark. Remove from oven when toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze. Pour glaze over the cooked coffee cake after it has cooled for a half hour.