Peach-blueberry cake \u00e0 la Ina Garten, made by the Accidental Balabusta. (photo by Shelley Civkin)<\/i><\/p>\n
With Rosh Hashanah right around the corner, I\u2019m already thinking of honey cake \u2026 but not honey cake. Wanting to ring in the new year with something sweet but not traditional, I found a recipe that might just fit the bill perfectly. Looking around the stores, there is still lots of fresh fruit to be had and, in a final hurray to summer, I decided to indulge in the juicy sweetness of peaches and local blueberries. Add in a few dozen other ingredients and, voila, I produced a cake that my husband declared worthy of a Balabusta column.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Reading the recipe I found online at sweetandsavourypursuits.com, I was initially apprehensive, since the ingredients list reads like a Tolstoy novel. Then I thought, heck, stop being a kitchen-weeny and get the job done. If the internet is to be believed (ha!), this recipe is \u201cadapted from Ina Garten,\u201d the \u201cBarefoot Contessa,\u201d so it was all but guaranteed to be good. And it was. However, I have one caveat: the baking temperature and cooking time are way off. But that\u2019s an easy fix.<\/p>\n Made in a nine-and-a-half-inch springform pan, this cake has got legs. It\u2019s gooey and sticky and holds its own. It\u2019s the opposite of light and fluffy, but you don\u2019t necessarily expect light and fluffy from a fruit-filled cake. Anyway, no more excuses. Just try it. But keep in mind that you will probably need to adjust your temperature up from the stated 350\u02da\u02da F to about 365\u02da F or even higher, depending on your oven. The recipe calls for a cooking time of 45 to 55 minutes at 350\u02daF, but the batter was still wet and jiggly after 55 minutes, so I upped the temperature and just kept adding time until the cake set, which ended up being more like an hour and 15 minutes or so. Flexibility is a must for this recipe. Don\u2019t expect to make it when you\u2019re in a rush. Won\u2019t happen. But darn, it\u2019s worth the time.<\/p>\n PEACH-BLUEBERRY CAKE<\/b><\/p>\n 1\/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 1. Place rack in the middle of the oven and heat oven to 350\u02da F (as I said above, I would recommend more like 365\u02da F or higher \u2013 your call). Line the bottom of a 9 1\/2\u201d springform pan with parchment paper or lightly grease it. Set aside.<\/p>\n 2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cardamom (if using). Set aside.<\/p>\n 3. In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and white sugar and beat on medium-high for 3 to 5 minutes, until mixture is fluffy.<\/p>\n 4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.<\/p>\n 5. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.<\/p>\n 6. Scrape the side and bottom of the bowl before gradually adding the flour mixture on low speed.<\/p>\n 7. Once the flour has been added, increase the speed and beat until the batter is smooth. Don\u2019t over-beat the batter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 8. In a medium bowl, mix the peaches and blueberries with the brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom (if using).<\/p>\n 9. Spread the batter evenly into the springform pan.<\/p>\n 10. Add the fruit to the top of the batter by arranging the peaches in a circular pattern and scattering the blueberries in the gaps. (At this point, I was so tired, I just threw the whole fruit mixture on top of the batter.)<\/p>\n 11. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean or with a few crumbs clinging to it.<\/p>\n 12. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes before running a knife along the edge and releasing the cake from the pan.<\/p>\n The recipe says to serve the cake at room temperature, but who are we kidding? As soon as I could touch the cake without burning my fingers, I was stuffing it into my mouth. The recipe also suggested serving it with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, neither of which I had, so we ate it au naturel.<\/p>\n The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to two days and, after that, it should be refrigerated. But, once again, who are they kidding? As if a cake would last two days in our home. Maybe we\u2019re gluttons. Or maybe we just wanted the cake while it was fresh. My money is on freshness. And expediency.<\/p>\n However you parse it, this cake is summer-yummy. And, since I can already feel fall in the air, if I were you, I\u2019d hightail it to your local grocer, buy some peaches and blueberries and get baking. The cake was delicious right from the oven. It was delicious the next morning for breakfast. And it was still delicious that afternoon. Now, it is no longer. I have no idea if it would freeze well or not, but, if so, it would make a refreshing alternative to honey cake for Rosh Hashanah. You could probably substitute berries of any kind in this cake, but I hear that blueberries are a particularly good antioxidant food. If, however, you happen to be pro-oxidant, then skip the blueberries and opt for something less controversial. Whatever. Just try this. Then thank me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Shelley Civkin,<\/b> aka the Accidental Balabusta, is a happily retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly book review column for the <\/i>Richmond Review. She\u2019s currently a freelance writer and volunteer.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Peach-blueberry cake \u00e0 la Ina Garten, made by the Accidental Balabusta. (photo by Shelley Civkin) With Rosh Hashanah right around the corner, I\u2019m already thinking of honey cake \u2026 but not honey cake. Wanting to ring in the new year with something sweet but not traditional, I found a recipe that might just fit the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[781],"tags":[8729,3797,21425,1801],"class_list":["post-45004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-accidental-balabusta","tag-baking","tag-cake","tag-rosh-hashanah"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n2 cups white sugar
\n2 large eggs at room temperature
\n1 cup sour cream at room temperature
\n1 tsp vanilla extract
\n2 cups all-purpose flour
\n1 tsp baking powder
\n1 tsp baking soda
\n1\/2 tsp ground cinnamon
\n1\/2 tsp ground cardamom (optional, and I didn\u2019t use it)
\n2 large fresh ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
\n3\/4 cup fresh blueberries rinsed and dried
\n1\/3 cup light brown sugar packed
\n1\/2 tsp ground cinnamon
\n1\/4 tsp ground cardamom (optional)<\/p>\n