Friends Lynn and Lee recently introduced me to a cake recipe that was posted on Smitten Kitchen, "adapted, only slightly, from Martha Stewart."
The cake is called a Strawberry Summer Cake. Lynn said she and Lee switch out the fruit all the time.
Like the ever-changing rumor in "Chicken Little," I suspect we are getting further and further away from Ms. Stewart's original, although I have never seen it.
For my first pass, I followed the recipe and used strawberries. Well, I almost followed the recipe. I had strawberries from the farmers market, but not enough. I had some apricots too, so I married them and it was delightful.
The second time round, and what you see today, includes peaches and cherries, also from the market. Yummy!
Nuts. The third time I used ground almonds to compliment fruits. And my fruits for this version were raspberries and blackberries.
Do you see a pattern here? This recipe is a great jumping off point for a simple and flavorful summer desert. It is, in essence, the perfect fruit cake... a summer fruit cake, though, and not one you will be desperate to give away.
I make it in a deep dish pie plate, as Smitten Kitchen suggested, but a cake pan is fine. Just make sure it is 9 inches in diameter with 2-inch high sides.
Maybe next time I’ll try peach-lavender, or use some other herbs in the batter.
I hope you have fun with this - we certainly are!
~ David
Peach and Cherry Summer Cake
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup almond meal)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 pound cherries, pitted
1/2 pound peaches, peeled and sliced
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch, deep-dish pie plate or 9-inch cake pan with 2-inch sides.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 scant cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. It will look curdled. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.
Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange fruit on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.
Bake cake for 55 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges.
Serves. Labels: cherries, peaches, smitten kitchen, summer cake
