Blueberry Buckle

I made this for my boyfriend, who's lactose intolerant and thus couldn't eat fresh peach cake. I honestly didn't care for it that much. It tasted like a big blueberry muffin, which is nice, but if I'm gonna eat a cake, I want a cake, not a muffin. He loved it though. He almost ate the whole thing by himself over the course of two days. Making it was a snap though, which is certainly a plus. The recipe also comes from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plus 1 to 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 pint blueberries (I didn't quite have a pint)
Whipped cream flavored with rum (I also didn't have this)

Topping
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8-inch springform pan.
2. Sift together the 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. Toss the berries with the remaining tablespoon or 2 of flour (to separate and scatter evenly throughout the batter) and fold in. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Combine ingredients for topping with a fork to make a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle this over the batter, spreading it with your hand if you like.
4. Bake for 1 hour, then test this for doneness by inserting a cake tester (since I used a 9-inch springform pan, I tested after 40 minutes and it was done.)
5. When the cake has cooled, run a knife around the edges and lift out of pan. Serve it with whipped cream generously spiked with rum.

Fresh Peach Cake

I had been wanting to make this cake for a long time, but I waited for almost a year because peaches are usually no good out of season. I have to say it was worth the wait. The taste isn't complicated or sophisticated by any means and I certainly wouldn't present it to a dessert master. It's peaches and cream with sponge cake, but it's so good that I had a big slice for breakfast. This is from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick margarine, softened
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
11/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanila extract
9 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

Cream filling
2 cups heavy filling
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Peach filling
5 to 6 large peaches (I used 7 medium ones)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Make cream filling first. Mix cream, sugar, and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease 3 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with wax paper. Grease the paper and lightly flour.
3. Sift the flour with the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
4. Cream the margarine, butter, and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the dry mixture in 4 parts, alternating with the milk and ending with the flour. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Place the beaten egg whites on top of the mixture and fold in with the over-and-under motion. Do not beat, but be sure it is well mixed. Pour batter into cake pans and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto cooling racks. Let cool completely.
6. To assemble cakes, peel and chop peaches into small slices. Toss peach slices with the lemon juice and sugar. Whip the chilled cream-sugar filling until it is stiff. The peaches will have given up a bit of juice by then, so pour some of it over the bottom cake layer, a little at a time, to give it a chance to soak in. Put a third of the peach slices on this bottom layer and cover with some whipped cream. Repeated with the remaining layers, holding them with toothpicks if necessary. Keep cake refrigerated, very loosely covered with foil or wax paper, until ready to serve.