Did you ever read Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet Ahlberg? I used to read it aloud to my little brother when he was small, and it was one of the first books we regularly read to Arty too. It’s got a lovely lilting rhyming structure, and beautiful illustrations.
It was also the inspiration for this yummy, yummy cake recipe.
Peach pear plum cakes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 a ripe pear, peeled, cored, and cut into 12 slices
- 2 ripe plums, peeled, de-seeded, and cut into 12 slices
- 1 ripe peach peeled, de-seeded, and cut into 12 slices
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing tin
- 125g caster sugar
- 100g raw sugar
- 225g self raising flour
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°c.
- Thoroughly grease a 12 hole muffin tin.
- In a medium to large mixing bowl, beat butter, caster sugar, raw sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
- Sift flour in, and stir in thoroughly.
- Sprinkle approx 1-2 tsp of brown sugar into the bottom of each section of the muffin tin, then arrange one slice of each fruit on top.
- Spoon cake batter evenly over the fruit.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cakes are golden brown on top, and spring back when lightly pressed.
- Allow to cool little before turning out. Any fruit that sticks to the tin can be removed and replaced with a knife or spoon.
- Serve warm or cooled.
Those four eggs make for the most mellow and rich sponge, which is complimented perfectly by the combination of fruity flavours on top. These make a delicious morning or afternoon tea, or a fantastic dessert when served with a scoop of ice cream or a generous dollop of custard.
