Summer Peach and Raspberry Sponge Cake

Good morning! It’s August already, we are at the height of summer, a time for holidays, relax and fun. To celebrate summer and all the sweet and colourful fruits we get in this season, today I am sharing a recipe for Peach and Raspberry Cake.

I’m on holiday in Grado as I type this, sitting outside a café overlooking the marina, sipping a cappuccino. The sun is hot and shining; in a few hours I will have lunch with my family and then go to the beach where I spent all my summers since I was a kid. 

Here in Italy everything shuts down in August, cities are empty and Italian families escape to our country’s coastal towns or other holiday destinations of the Mediterranean. I am in Grado for just a few days and tomorrow I will fly back to London. I am actually excited to spend most of August at home, the big city is quiet now and getting around is easy. After months of travelling abroad every other week, I am looking forward to spend a month in the same country. Where are you going to spend August and your summer holiday this year?

To make this cake, prepare a vanilla sponge cake and – half way through baking – add the juicy peaches and sweet raspberries. This fresh cake can be served for dessert (top with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream) or for an afternoon coffee or tea break.

Ingredients

Recipe adapted from FineCooking.com

• 170g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 85g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 200g granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 lime zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 170g Greek yogurt

For the topping:

• 1 large, ripe peach
• 1/2 punnet fresh raspberries
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and flour a round springform cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high until well blended and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the lime zest and vanilla. Using a spatula, fold in half the dry ingredients, then the yoghurt, and then the remaining dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile make the topping: slice the peach (keep the skin on) and combine with the raspberries, sugar and flour in a small bowl. Gently mix the ingredients to evenly coat the fruit and lightly crush the raspberries.

After the cake has baked for 15 minutes, take it out and scatter the fruit evenly over the top of the cake. Continue baking for another 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Open the cake pan to remove the cake, peel away the parchment and leave the cake on a wire rack to cool down completely.

Store in an airtight container for a couple of days (keep in the fridge if your home is very hot, as the fruit will go bad otherwise). Optional: lightly dust icing sugar on top of the cake.