I am so glad I finally got around to making this; it has been on my to do list since early in the summer, when I first saw it in the New York Times.  It was really simple to make (although the two pans for the fruit and browned butter irked me a little), tasted fantastic, and had a rustic, but pretty presentation.

I have to admit, it did take me two tries to make this simple summer dessert.  It wasn’t because it was a challenging recipe, it was simply because I wasn’t paying attention.  I was buzzing along, measuring and laying out ingredients so I could photograph them and mistakenly weighed the flour at the sugar weight of 5 ounces instead of 3 ounces, and oh what a difference those 2 ounces made.  The first round was not edible at all and I was super upset, because my parents had brought the nectarines all the way down from my favorite local orchard in NY where I grew up.  Plus I hate wasting food or ingredients – it really irritates me.  However, the cake quickly went from leaded to light once I corrected my flour measurement.  I didn’t realize my mistake until the day after, but I’m glad I did, because a good recipe would have been cast aside solely on my goof.

As far as baking time is concerned, I would err on the side of caution and leave it in on the longer side.  I thought mine could have gone just a tad longer.  A good way to tell, is to look at the bubbling fruit juices; if the center of the dish is bubbling, and juices look clear/almost clear.

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