Does everyone out there know about FUNEMPLOYMENT?  I’m sure there are a few definitions, but for my purposes, funemployment is the space of time between finishing at one job and starting at a new one, when you have no responsibilities and can totally luxuriate in your jobless state, but with the safety net of knowing that you already have another job locked down. Having worked at the same company for 15 years straight, this is a state of bliss I have never experienced UNTIL NOW!

I had a week of funemployment before starting my new job and just had the very best time. My friend Lusina’s outstanding advice was not to sleep in, and get up relatively early every day to maximize the time off. I got up at 8:00am each day and either went to the gym or went swimming, before watching Kelly & Ryan and working on one or two little organizing/purging projects around my place that I’d been putting off for ages. In the afternoon I would go out for a little activity like shopping at the Toronto Premium Outlets (which I had never been to before!), having lunch with friends, going for a WASAJ, or working on a baking project. It was truly so relaxing.

I’m also so happy that my funemployment week collided with the end of peach season! I bought a huge basket of peaches at the beginning of my time off and made a few things throughout the week that I’ll show you. First up was this Peach Crisp Cake, which starts with a very hydrated buttermilk cake batter, layered up with slices of juicy peaches, and topped with a brown sugar and oat crumble topping. It reminded me of this Blueberry Crumb Cake and I would definitely make it again.

My only note is not to make this in a springform pan as the recipe suggests. Mine got a little too brown on the bottom. I’m sure it’ll be fine to bake in a regular pan and flip out, since the crispy topping really sinks down into the cake. I’m also going to say to use eight peaches instead of six; you can never have too many peaches. This was pure, end of summer bliss.

Peach Crisp Cake

Source: Seasons & Suppers

Ingredients

Topping

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cold and cut into cubes

Cake

• 2 cups flour, minus 4 tsp (the original recipe called for self-rising flour, so just go with my adjustment, thank you)
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 8 peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9″ round cake pan with parchment paper, and spray with non-stick spray.
2. For the topping, stir the flour, brown sugar and oats together in a small bowl, and cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until crumbly. Stick in the fridge while you make the cake.
3. For the cake, first stir together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy, 3 minutes or so.
5. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
6. Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing each time until just combined.
7. Add half the batter to the prepared pan, leveling with an offset spatula, and then adding half of the peach slices. Repeat with the rest of the batter and rest of the peaches, and then sprinkle the crisp topping evenly over the top.
8. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.