Recipe: Buttermilk seasonal fruit cake

I was lucky enough to find this recipe on Twitter care of our friends at @StonefruitAU as the recipe had been adjusted to include nectarines on top of the cake. It was originally penned by the recipe blog 101 Cookbooks.  I've since tried using raspberries and white peaches on top and both are delicious and very impressive looking, without spending hours toiling away in the kitchen.  In fact, this recipe is so easy I've practically memorised it and bang it out with gay abandon whenever friends drop by.  Gay or not ;-)

I've got a thing for lemon zest and this cake contains the zest of 2, which makes it extra zingy. The lemon doesn't overpower the cake but just adds depth.  And freshness that cuts through the dense wholemeal flour.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups wholemeal flour (I used organic spelt)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup caster sugar or brown sugar (If you prefer the cake sweeter you can double the quantity)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled a little
zest of 2 lemons
1 punnet of raspberries (more if you like) or other fruit in season - blueberries, peaches, nectarines... experiment!
3 tablespoons large grain raw sugar (I used coffee crystals)
1 teaspoon large grain salt

Method

Heat oven to 200C degrees. Grease and flour (or line bottom with baking paper) a 25cm tart/quiche pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and sugar and salt in a large bowl. In a separate smaller bowl whisk together the eggs and the buttermilk, whisk in the melted butter, and the lemon zest. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined - try not to over mix and its generally fine if you can still see bits of unmixed flour in the cake.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, pushing out toward the edges. Drop the berries across top or place slices of peach, nectarine etc. Squish some with your fingers so the colour bleeds into the top of the cake in the oven.

 

Sprinkle with the coffee crystals (raw or plain sugar will do, I've experimented with all and coffee crystals work the best) and then the salt. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until cake is done (or a toothpick in the center comes out clean).

Be prepared for the oohs and ahhs that will greet this little beauty.  Serve with organic vanilla yogurt, thickened cream or icecream.  Serves about 12 as the cake is quite filling.