Summer Fruit Drizzle Cake

This week has been the traditional holiday that follows the month-long fast of Ramazan called Şeker Bayramı –şeker (pron: sheh- care) literally means sugar or sweet so when local children come knocking on your door to wish you a Happy Bayram – İyi Bayramlar! - you give them candy. We on the other hand have received little plates of homemade baklavafrom the neighbours around us as well as güllaç, another traditional dessert associated with this holiday.

summer fruit cake with blackberries

I made a cake last Saturday as SIL and some of his and Daughter No 2’s friends were coming down from Istanbul for this weeklong national holiday.  I actually love baking but haven’t been able to do much this summer. This doesn’t mean that amongst all those eggplants or aubergines that I have been cooking, we haven’t longed for something sweet ourselves!

with peaches

When I saw this recipe for a summer fruit cake in the latest BBC Good Food Magazine, I just had to try it. You can use any fruit you like so I have now actually made it twice, first with peaches and then with blackberries. Turkish blackberries are not great but peaches are surefire winners. Literally use whatever fruit you fancy.

I recommend eating this cake while still warm out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla icecream on the side!

Ingredients

Cuts into 8

175g/6oz very soft butter, plus extra for greasing

175g/6oz golden caster sugar(I used regular granulated sugar/toz şeker)

250g/9oz self-raising flour OR use plain flour + 2 ¼ tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

175g/6oz fruit, stoned and diced weight (apricots, blackberries, blueberries, nectarines, peaches, plums, raspberries, redcurrants or blackcurrants, strawberries)

140g/5oz granulated sugar

1-2 tbsp citrus juice – lemon, lime or orange

Method

·         Heat oven to 180°C/160°fan/gas 4.

lining the tin

·         Grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin and *line the base and ends with a long strip of baking parchment. Put the butter, sugar, flour (plus baking powder if using), eggs and vanilla extract into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer for 5 mins until pale and creamy – the mixture will be very thick.

my peaches

·         Spread  1/3  of the cake mix into the tin, then scatter over 50g of the fruit. Carefully dot and spread another third of the cake mix on top, and scatter with another 50g fruit. Finally dot the rest of the cake mix over and gently spread with the back of a spoon.

layering the fruit with the mixture

·         Bake for 1 hr, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. THIS IS IMPORTANT! ıf the cake is still not cooked through but the top is browning too fast, simply cover with a double layer of cooking foil.

·         Poke the cake all over with a skewer. Put remaining 75g fruit into a bowl with the granulated sugar. Stir in 1 tbsp of the citrus juice first with a fork, mashing a little of the fruit as you go. If it’s a bit dry, add a splash more juice and spooon over the cake. Leave in the tin until the cake is cool and the topping is set and crisp.

Tips

1.       *Lining the tin with the baking parchment in this way is very useful as it enables you to safely remove the cake without it breaking. It’s easy to do, too!

2.       The mixture will indeed be very thick. The recipe uses the words ‘dot and spread’ and that is correct. Don’t worry if it doesn’t quite meet the edges as it will all come together while baking.

3.     My baking tin was bigger than the specified size so the second time I made this cake I increased everything by half. It worked beautifully as you can see!

Try it for tea – it’s delicious!

Afiyet Olsun!