Peach season is at its peak where I live, so make sure to bake this scrumptious torte now. About thirty years ago I made a recipe for Plum Torte, a New York Times classic that became that paper’s most popular recipe ever. I’ve baked it every year since. This year, thanks to fantastic local peaches grown by Tom and Lynn McCamant at their Forbidden Fruit Orchards, a friend suggested I try making a peach torte. Because peaches are such a juicy fruit, I knew I couldn’t simply use them as is.Recently I watched a Cooks Illustrated video on roasting peaches to remove much of their moisture and I decided to give the method a try. It worked! Learn how to do it in the recipe below.
I made the torte batter and arranged wedges of cooled roasted peaches on top and the torte baked up perfectly. Here’s what to expect when you dig into a slice. The texture of this torte changes from tip to edge, and therein lies its magic. Your first few bites from its tip are moist and pudding-like. Then, as you eat your way towards the outer edge, the torte becomes more cake-like with a consistency that blends perfectly with the oven-roasted peaches. By the time you get to the crusty edge, you’ve experienced a world of textures just in this one slice.
Here’s the recipe. The roasted peaches work well in savory dishes as well as desserts.