FRESH PEACH CRUMB COFFEE CAKE

Topping (recipe follows)

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pound ripe peaches (3 to 4 medium), peeled, pitted and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 F. Liberally butter the bottom of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.

Prepare topping; set aside.

To make the cake batter, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sour cream, eggs and vanilla and beat well. Place the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl, stirring to combine; add to the batter all at once, stirring well to combine. The batter will be stiff.

Smooth the batter into the prepared skillet. Arrange the peach slices on top in a single layer. Crumble the topping mixture into big chunks and sprinkle on top of the peaches.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with crumbs clinging to it, about 45 minutes. (The cake will remain quite moist because of the peaches, but be sure you don’t have streaks of raw batter on the toothpick.) Cool a little before cutting into wedges.

Makes 8 servings.

Topping: Place 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1/2 cup 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted salted butter in a medium bowl. Mix well to make a dense, smooth dough; set aside until ready to top cake before it bakes.