Peach Cobbler Cake

Directions

1. Make the cake: preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans (the pans should be at least 2 inches tall).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together to combine.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, melted butter, and brown sugar well to combine. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to combine. Stir in the vanilla.
4. Add about half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and whisk well to combine. Add all of the yogurt, and whisk to combine. Finally, mix in the remaining flour mixture. Scrape the bowl well to be sure it’s all well incorporated, but don’t overmix.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake is golden brown, 45-55 minutes.
6. Cool the cakes for 15 minutes inside the pans, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. Make the streusel: line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, and cinnamon to combine.
8. Add the cubed cold butter and mix (with your hands or a pastry cutter) until the mixture forms moist clumps.
9. Crumble the streusel onto the prepared baking sheet and bake until evenly golden brown (it will spread a bit and come together – don’t worry!), 15-20 minutes. Cool completely, then use your hands to break it up into large crumbles.
10. Prepare the filling: in a medium bowl, toss the peaches, lemon juice, sugar, and almond extract to combine.
11. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the mascarpone and powdered sugar to combine. Add the cream and continue to whip until the mixture becomes thick, like medium-peak whipped cream. Mix in the vanilla extract. Reserve in the refrigerator until ready to use.
12. To assemble the cake, use a serrated knife to cut the domed tops off of both cakes, then to cut each into two even layers. You’ll have four layers total.
13. Place one layer on a platter or cake stand, and scoop ¼ of the whipped cream onto it. Top with ¼ of the peaches (I use a slotted spoon to be sure I don’t bring too much juice along with the fruit), and crumble ¼ of the streusel over the peaches.
14. Place another cake layer on top, and repeat the process, continuing to pile the layer cake high until you’ve used up all of the ingredients.
15. The cake is best served within 4 hours – refrigerate until ready to serve. If you want to make it further in advance, you can prepare all the components, but wait to build it until closer to serving time!