Peach Cobbler Shortcake Cake

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare three 9″ round baking pans by spraying them with non-stick baking spray. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add softened butter, canola oil, salt and sugar and cream them together on high until fluffy and smooth (about 5 minutes). Next, add one egg at a time to the bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.

In a separate large bowl, sift cake flour and baking powder together. Turn the mixer to low and add half of flour mixture to the creamed mixture and fully incorporate. Next add sour cream into the mixture and blend well and lastly finish with remaining flour mixture and mix well. Finally add vanilla extract and finish beating on low until everything is well mixed. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl as well.

Evenly add cake mixture into prepared baking pans and place in oven to bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove cakes from the oven, set pans on a cooling rack and rest cakes in pans for 10 minutes.

Next remove the cake layers from pans and place on cooling racks for one hour. Wrap each layer in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour to make it easier to work with when assembling the shortcake.

For the sauteed peaches:
While layers bake, add butter to a large saute over medium heat pan and melt. Next add sliced peaches, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract to the pan and saute over medium heat until peaches are soft and syrup has reduced and thickened (between 15-25 minutes). Remove peaches from heat and let them cool and continue to thicken.

For the crumble:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and flour to a small to medium sized bowl. Whisk ingredients together. Slowly add in melted butter and stir in to combine until small crumbs develop.

Spread crumbs on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until crisp and golden. Remove the pan of crumbs from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

For the whipped cream:
In a large bowl using a mixer with whisk attachment, whip the cream to soft peak stage then add cornstarch, brown sugar and cinnamon and continue whipping until combined.

To assemble:
Place one cake layer on the bottom of your cake plate. Add one third of the sauteed peaches to the top of the first layer. Next add one third of the whipped cream over top of the peaches. Sprinkle with one third of the crumble crumbs and drizzle some caramel sauce on top. Repeat with a second layer of cake and another third of each ingredient as detailed above. On the last cake layer, add remaining whipped cream over the top. Garnish top of whipped cream with remaining sauteed peaches, crumbs and caramel sauce and serve.