Peach, Almond & Yoghurt Cake
Being that I'm probably the most dessert obsessed in my family, I have also become the baker of all birthday related cakes/desserts. Today I'm sharing the most recent, literally baked yesterday and eaten last night by my family...amidst the unwrapping of presents, cups of tea & lots of laughs...
I found the recipe via Toasty Biscuit, although further Googling suggests it may possibly be a Bill Granger recipe...? In a perfect world, every birthday cake I made would somehow involve chocolate. But, I always do the right thing and check in with whoever is having the birthday to see if they have any suggestions...and somehow I have been born into a family where almost all requests are "anything but chocolate, and with some fruit please!" This time I got to delve into my Evernote file of cakes waiting to be made and this one was perfect...summery peaches, healthy yoghurt (purposely unbalanced by a generous serving of vanilla ice-cream on the side!), and cinnamon sugar toasted almond flakes...
Toasty Biscuit's Version of Peach Almond Yoghurt Cake
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
100g brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
200g natural yoghurt*
100g self raising flour, sifted
200g almond meal
3 medium yellow peaches (about 400g), peeled, diced**
Topping
50g flaked almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 heaped tablespoon caster sugar
icing sugar, to dust
1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Grease and line a 23 centimetre springform tin with non-stick baking paper (the easiest way to do this is to rip off a piece of baking paper that covers the base of your tin, then simply clip the ring directly over the base and paper and you’re good to go; no need to actually cut out a circle to fit!)***
2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract until very light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Add the yoghurt and mix until just combined. Add the flour and almond meal and lightly mix.
3. Gently fold in the fruit and pour the batter into the prepared tin. Mix the topping ingredients in a small bowl and then sprinkle over the batter.
4. Bake for around 30 minutes, cover with foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Allow the cake to cool in the tin and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
* I used Greek Yoghurt for some extra creaminess
** I used a mixture of fresh and canned peaches
*** Love this tip, will be using this forever, also makes transferring to cake stand less stressful!
I warmed it up to serve with vanilla ice cream...because of the almond meal the texture of the cake is headed towards pudding territory...so very moist. I also grilled some peaches to serve on the side, and then completely forgot about them when it came time for the actual birthday...c'est la vie!
With thanks to Toasty Biscuit for the recipe, and to Mum for not caring that I hijacked her cake for some blog photos earlier in the day...balanced out by taking home the leftovers :)