Peach crumble cake and a 50km friday walk

This week is disappearing fast and the big plans I had to post photos and recipes from a lovely farmer we just met have had to give way to other deadlines and last-minute training sessions for a the terrifyingly close 50km walk I have committed to do this Friday. Three friends and I have joined a team and entered Coastrek, a 50km stroll from Palm Beach to Balmoral to raise funds for the amazing Fred Hollows Foundation. You can read more about our team here if you like.

So, with apologies I offer up this beautiful peach crumble cake recipe and look forward to being back here in a big, if not physically exhausted way, next week. Thanks, Sophie.

Peach crumble cake

Our little peach tree is dripping with peaches at the moment so we are doing all we can to keep and eat them before the ducks do. They’ve been eating the fallen fruit non-stop, I can’t imagine their tummy aches….The recipe is inspired by this beautiful one given on Decor8 a few weeks ago. I doubled it (because we’re greedy that way) and fiddled around a little but the basic recipe is mostly unchanged.

This makes a fairly large cake that will feed lots of people and/or keep happily (wrapped tightly) for a few days. 

For the crumble
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup toasted hazlenuts
60g cold unsalted butter, cubed 

For the cake
5 peaches
250g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk

To make the crumble, combine all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Tip into a bowl, cover with plastic and pop in the fridge while you make the cake.

Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and line a 26cm cake tin. Bring a big saucepan of water to the boil, score the base of each peach and plop them into the boiling water for about a minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool for a moment. Meanwhile, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. While this is happening, gently peel the peaches and slice thinly. Once the butter and sugar are creamed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.

Fold through the flour and cinnamon, alternating with the buttermilk. Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared cake tin, layer with half of the peaches, top with the remaining batter, sprinkle with the crumble mixture and then finish with the rest of the peaches. Cook for one hour or until the cake has begun to pull away from the edges and the centre feels firm to touch.

Remove from oven and let cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool properly.