Kat Thompson is the associate editor of Eater at Home, covering home cooking and baking, cookbooks and recipes, and kitchen gadgets. She loves canned peaches straight from the jar.
Peach season is upon us which means, yes, you can dive straight into ripe peaches, the juices trickling down your arm and leaving behind a sticky trail that smells like summer. Alternatively, you could whip up a peach and halloumi salad, pair grilled peaches with goat cheese and runner beans, or turn them into a cake. If you’re looking for the best peach recipes to try out this summer, here are the favorites of six Eater staffers.
Zaynab Issa, Bon Appétit
Here are a few food facts (you might say opinions, but I’d argue they are facts) that I will always stand by: Halloumi is one of the best — and more deeply underrated — cheeses. More people should be using sumac. Peaches (and nectarines) are one of the best fruits to incorporate into savory dishes.
This salad recipe from Bon Appétit combines all three maxims into a near-perfect summer dish. I’ve made it multiple times, each time riffing just a bit (as one should with salad) — changing out the pomegranate molasses for tamarind paste (when I ran out of the former), adding cucumbers (never a bad salad move), swapping different herbs (if you’re out of parsley or mint, tarragon or basil would be great here too). And, of course, using peaches instead of nectarines, depending on what looked good at the market that week. The real fundamentals are the halloumi, stone fruit, and sumac combo, which results in a sweet-salty-tangy bite that encapsulates summer in one perfect mouthful. — Ellie Krupnick, executive director of editorial operations
Yotam Ottolenghi, The Guardian
We take our peaches seriously out in Georgia and it’s prime peach season right now. Every summer, I make chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s grilled peaches and runner beans with goat’s cheese. It sounds like an odd combo, doesn’t it? But trust me, smokey grilled peaches and green beans (I substitute) are brilliant together,especially served warm and dotted with soft goat’s cheese, salted almonds, torn mint, and drizzled with honey and olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice. It looks striking on a table with all its colors, and you get to use your prettiest platter. As Ottolenghi would say, sit down and tuck in. It’s divine. — Henna Bakshi, regional editor, South
Jerrelle Guy, NYT Cooking
I come from the school of thought that peaches are best enjoyed in their natural form, preferably over a sink. Why add to the perfect, sweet juiciness naturally emitted from the South’s best stone fruit?
Enter Jerrelle Guy, baker, cookbook author, and culinary disruptor to my kitchen. Her peach pound cake recipe gets everything right about using peaches in dessert form, in large part thanks to the genius direction to dice the fruit into chunks, allowing large bits to retain their irresistible flavor and much of their texture within the cake. This is one of the easier cakes to make, requiring only a food processor or blender and a bit of elbow grease. The result of your labor? Slices of divinely sweet pound cake studded with generous hunks of summer fruit. The glaze may be too sugary for some, but if you have a sweet tooth and decide to include it, do take Guy’s tip to heart: purchase the boldest, deepest-colored peaches you can get your hands on, as the skins will enhance the blush of the glaze. — Kayla Stewart, senior editor
Pate Giltner, The G&M Kitchen
I wait the entire year for peach season to arrive just so I can make this upside-down cake. Juicy, sweet yellow peaches are layered at the bottom of a pan, drizzled with a rich — yet not too sweet — bourbon caramel. The cake component is practically foolproof, with just a handful of ingredients mixed together and dumped on top. The alcohol in the bourbon cooks off, leaving only a whisper of the base notes of whatever bourbon is used. The cake is dense, but not overly so, and bakes up quite tender, sturdy enough to act as a base for the peaches and caramel. The only challenging part of this recipe is getting the caramel just right, but with some practice and plenty of attention to keep the sweet mixture from burning, it’s not too difficult. When peaches are in peak season and I’m entertaining, I may make this cake multiple times — it’s just that good. — Rebecca Roland, associate editor, Eater LA
John Kanell, Preppy Kitchen
This peach cake recipe from Preppy Kitchen is unabashedly easy and forgiving, but also produces a cake that is worthy of a summer dinner party (especially if you artfully arrange the peaches on top and serve with freshly whipped cream). The batter comes together seamlessly in a stand mixer and calls for a dollop of sour cream for richness and subtle tang. You can substitute that with Greek yogurt, as I often do, and also zhuzh the cake up with vanilla bean paste or a dash of cinnamon. The result is a fragrant cake with chunks of peaches suspended throughout its crumb, making every bite taste like summer. My only note is that it typically takes longer than the 45 minute bake time the recipe calls for, especially as the peaches release their juices; just be sure to check on your cake as it bakes, as every oven is different. — Kat Thompson, associate editor, Eater at Home
Renee Erickson, Food52
Pies, crisps, and buckles all make perfectly good, buttery landing pads for juicy summer peaches, but Renee Erickson’s peach cobbler with hot sugar crust has my heart. For the past seven summers, it’s been my end-of-summer swan song. The magic of this untraditional cobbler lies in its namesake crust: you sprinkle sugar over the batter, then pour boiling water on top. It feels almost wrong as you’re doing it, but the result is irresistible — a crisp, crackly top with a tender, fluffy interior, all perched over a pile of sweet, collapsed peaches. — Kaitlin Bray, director of audience development
