Stone Fruit Tea Cake



The moment I saw this cake at  My Kitchen Snippets, I bookmarked it straightaway.  It's unique and definitely can't be bought over the counter.  I've been procrastinating far too long and finally got down to it recently.  But I substituted the stone fruits with strawberries, blueberries and kiwi.  None of these are fruits with a stone seed, but I throw caution to the winds and as long as the cake tastes good, it's all that matters as far as I'm concerned.

This is my choice of fruits - kiwi, strawberries and blueberries, washed and cut up.

Spread a layer of batter on the base of the springform pan, top with a layer of fruits. (If the fruits are sour, good idea to sprinkle some sugar at this juncture).
Dollop over with spoonfuls of batter to partly cover the layer of fruits.  Sprinkle on some demerara sugar.

Doesn't it resemble part of a world map?  I was indeed pleased that it turned out so pretty.

True to how it was described, the cake was moist, with a beautiful fruity flavour and a sugary crunchy top, stone fruits or no stone fruits.   I kept some left-overs in a covered container in the fridge and they did taste good, the next day, chilled!

Ingredients

• 150 gm plain flour
• 1/2  tsp baking powder
• 1/2  tsp salt
• 80 gm caster sugar   (I reduced from 100 gm)
• 80 gm butter
• 2 eggs
• 1  Tbsp orange rind
• 1  Tbsp brown sugar or more if the fruits are sour  ( I used demerara sugar)
• 120 gm strawberries
• 120 gm blueberries
• 2 kiwi fruits
• 1  tsp vanilla

Method

1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and creamy.  Add in eggs, stir in orange rind and vanilla.  The mixture is a bit watery.
3. Add flour in 2 or 3 batches, mixing well with each addition.   
4. Cut up the fruits.  Half the strawberries and cut the kiwi into quarters. 
5. Spoon  more than half the batter onto the base of a lighty greased and floured 8 inch round springform pan.  Spread evenly.  Scatter the cut fruits over the batter and spoon the remaining batter, in blotches at random onto the fruits.  Sprinkle a generous amount of demerara sugar on top.
6. Bake in a preaheated oven @ 160 - 180 deg C for 30 to 35 mins. till golden brown and firm.
7. Cool for 30 mins. before serving.

Note :

1. If the fruits are sour, sprinkle a layer of  brown/demerara sugar over the layer of fruits before topping up with the batter and more sugar on top.
2. A choice of stone fruits can be - plums, apricots, nectarines or peaches.
3. Canned fruits are not recommended.