Peaches and Cream Cake




Hai!
I baked a smorgasbord of cakes over the past month but did not click any blog-worthy pictures so they never got posted here.
Anyway, I baked this delicious cake (cakes, to be precise since I baked three!) a few days back but being the absolutely lazy bum I am, I never got around to click pictures.
But it was so good that I had no qualms about withstanding 104 degrees in my wee little kitchen to bake it again.

Being the substandard photographer that I am, the photos don't do justice to the cake nevertheless I love how it turned out.


Peaches and cream is one of my favourite flavor combinations and I think it is perfect for summer.
The sponge is Donna Hay's eponymous light as air vanilla cake, my go to recipe for vanilla sponge as it truly is the lightest vanilla cake I have come across in my many years of baking. I did not make any changes to the original recipe, save for swapping vanilla extract for seeds of vanilla beans.

The icing is light whipped cream as heavy buttercreams or meringue based frostings are a strict no-go when it comes to sweltering Indian summers, in my opinion at least.

First time baking this cake, I had used fresh peaches but this time I slightly caramelised them. Next time, I might use caster sugar in place of light brown muscovado while caramelising as the flavor of molasses came out too strong in the caramel.






Here's the recipe for this summer-memories-evoking pretty cake.

Vanilla Sponge

150 g flour (1 cup)
1tsp baking powder
165 g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
6 eggs
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
75 g unsalted butter, melted

  • Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line two 6-inch round pans
  • Sift flour and baking powder three times (it may seem tedious but don't skip it! This helps in adding air to the batter).
  • In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla with an electric whisk for 12-15 minutes until pale, thick and tripled in volume.
  • Gently fold in the flour mix, half at a time, in a cut-and-fold motion with a steel spoon.
  • Add butter and fold in gently.
  • Divide the batter equally into tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until the centre of the cake springs back on light touch.

Whipped Cream

150 ml whipping cream (or double cream)

  • Whip the cream till slightly firm peaks.

Caramelised Peaches

3-4 small peaches
2 tbsp light brown muscovado sugar
3 tbsp unsalted butter

  • In a non-stick pan, melt the butter and then add the sugar.
  • Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved.
  • Add peaches, stir for 2-3 minutes until properly coated. Turn off the heat.

Happy Baking!

XOXO

Sarah




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