Peach Crumb Cake

***CRUMB TOPPING*** 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter -- no substitutions

****** 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter -- softened, no

-- substitutions 1/3 cup almond paste -- cut up

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs -- at room temperature

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 peaches -- peeled and cut into

-- 1/2-inch-thick -- slices 1/2 cup sliced natural almonds

1. Heat oven to 350?F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Make crumb topping: Combine flour and brown sugar; cut in butter with a pas try blender or fork. Set aside.

3. Combine flour, cream of tartar and salt in medium bowl.

4. Beat butter and almond paste in mixer bowl until creamy. Add sugar and con tinue beating until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to batter; beat 1 minute more. Spread into prepared pan.

5. Arrange peaches on top. Sprinkle with topping, then nuts. Bake 60 to 70 m inutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Wrap and free ze up to 1 month. Thaw, wrapped, at room temperature 4 hours.) Makes 12 servin gs.

This cake's texture is similar to pound cake, and the surprise ingredient is al mond paste. It can be found in the baking section of most supermarkets.

Prep time: 25 minutes Baking time: 60 to 70 minutes Degree of difficulty: easy Can be frozen up to 1 month

MC formatted by Barb at Possum Kingdom using MC Buster 2.0g & SNT on 8/17/98

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