Fresh Peach Cake and Banana Muffins

As soon as I put Tabitha down for her nap this morning, I walked into the kitchen and noticed that most of my lovely fresh peaches from the farmers' market last weekend were suddenly ripe and ready, filling the room with a sweet peach smell.  Tabitha and I like peaches, but we sure weren't going to eat a dozen in one day - so I decided to make a cake with some of them.  Today I have my Australian Breastfeeding Association local meeting, and also Mothers' Group in the afternoon, and I like to take a cake to at least one of those meet-ups.

I couldn't find a peach cake recipe that I liked the look of, and didn't have time to make a pie (with the chilling and blind baking of the pastry etc), so I made one up.  It turned out really nicely, so it's worth a try next time you have too many peaches!

Fresh Peach Cake

180g wholemeal self raising flour

180g self raising flour

2 eggs

225g white sugar

185g melted butter

1 generous, overflowing teaspoon of vanilla extract

4 - 5 large peaches, sliced (each half sliced into 5 or 6 pieces)

3 good tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, extra

Demerara sugar and Cinnamon, for sprinking

Firstly, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and the brown sugar together in a frypan (preferably stainless steel or seasoned cast iron, as non-stick doesn't caramelize as well).  Pile in the peach slices, and gently stir over medium heat until the peaches are cooked but still firm, and coated in an oozy, golden caramel.

Here is the bowl of peach slices (5 peaches worth, I think):

Here is the pan of peaches caramalising in the brown sugar and butter:

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together both flours, the eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla extract.  The mixture will come together into something between a batter and a cookie dough - drier and firmer than an ordinary cake batter.  This is what you want!

Here is the batter - there is a fair amount, this is a massive bowl:

Prepare a 24cm springform pan by greasing and flouring, then lining the bottom with a circle of baking paper.

Press around 2/3 of the cake mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, coming up ever so slightly around the edges:

Pour in the peaches (make sure they are not runny and juicy - if they are too 'wet', you'd probably want to strain off some of the moisture), and spread out evenly:

Then press the rest of the cake mixture over the top - you can just flatten small amounts with your clean hands, and press it gently over the peaches.  You want it to be uneven and a little broken, so that it spreads and gets a little crispy and the peaches show through a bit.  The cake won't be terribly high in the tin, but will rise quite a bit during the cooking.  

Top fairly generously with a sprinkle of demerara sugar and cinnamon (as above), then put in a 180 degree oven for around 45 minutes or so, or until the top is nicely browned:

Sorry, I do not have any gratuitous inside photos - I took it to ABA and in a room full of 20+ mothers, plus babies and children, it disappeared in an instant!

You could serve this hot / warm with ice cream or cream as a dessert (yes please!) or cold and sliced.  It's not a neat cake to slice cold, but it is tastes great and is easy to make.  You could also top the cold cake with some toasted almond flakes, and I think a little finely chopped thyme would also be really nice added to the peaches while you caramalise them.

I also had a couple of overripe bananas to use up, so I made a batch of banana muffins.  This recipe is from Nigella Lawson's How To Be a Domestic Goddess, and is quite healthy.  Tabitha has eaten half a banana muffin this morning, and seemed completely engrossed, so she must like them.

Banana Muffins

30g unsalted butter

60g honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large, very ripe bananas

150g plain flour

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Melt the butter, honey and vanilla extract together in a small saucepan, then set aside.

Mash the bananas, then add the melted mixture to them.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarb soda, cinnamon and salt.  Pour the banana/butter mixture into the dry ingredients, and gently mix together - you want to just stir a few times.  Don't overmix, because it makes for tough muffins.  The mixture will be, to quote Nigella, "a not terrible attractive lumpy sludge".

Divide the mixture between 12 medium paper cases, placed into a 12-hole muffin tin, then sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar (this is my addition - I sprinkle it on top of most muffins, it makes the tops nice and crunchy).

Bake at 190 degrees for 15 - 25 minutes or until just cooked.  Cool on a wire rack.

Note - I have made these before as vegan banana muffins for some vegan friends (I sent them to Sydney in the overnight post!).  Just replace the butter with non-dairy margarine, and the honey with golden syrup.