Peach & Blueberry Cake

After picking blueberries and peaches at Southern Hill Farms this weekend, I was inspired to make this delicious and beautiful Peach and Blueberry Cake!

This cake screams summer fruit! And you can easily switch out the fruit and make it a year-round dessert.

The combination of the peaches and blueberries is amazing. The natural sugars in the fruit enhance the flavor. The crust is almost biscuit-like and has a rich buttery flavor. 

Enjoy the summer weekend and this scrumptious summer cake!

Check out Southern Hills Farm!

INGREDIENTS

For pastry

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For filling

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½  tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 lb firm-ripe large peaches (about 4), halved lengthwise, pitted, and each half cut lengthwise into fourths
• 1 cup blueberries (1/2 pint)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Make pastry:

Pulse together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add egg and vanilla and pulse just until dough clumps and begins to form a ball, about 15 pulses.

Press dough onto bottom and evenly (about 1/4 inch thick) all the way up side of springform pan with floured fingertips. Chill pastry in pan until firm, about 10 minutes.

Make filling while pastry chills:

Put the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F.

Generously butter the inside of your springform pan.

Grind 2 tablespoons sugar with flour and cornstarch in a food processor until combined, then transfer to a large bowl. 

Add peaches, blueberries, and lemon juice and sprinkle 6 tablespoons over the top, toss to coat. 

Spoon filling into pastry and bake, loosely covered with a sheet of foil and cover the bottom of the pan with foil, until filling is bubbling in center and crust is golden, about 1 3/4 hours.

Transfer cake in pan to a rack and cool, uncovered, 20 minutes, then carefully remove side of pan.

Cool cake to barely warm or room temperature, then cut into thick wedges with a sharp knife before serving.

Tip:

I recommend using light-colored metal pans for baking. Dark metal pans, including nonstick, will cause your baked goods to brown more quickly. If you don’t have a light-colored pan, wrap the bottom of your pan with foil and lower the heat to 350 degrees F. 

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Strawberry & Lemon Bundt Cake

Filled with fresh strawberries!

Who doesn’t love a cold glass of strawberry lemonade on a hot day. Now think about that as a delicious slice of cake. All of the same refreshing flavors, but in cake form. Count me in!

This cake is perfect for brunch, a picnic or patio party! It is made with fresh strawberries and fresh lemon zest and a sour cream cake batter, this moist and tender strawberry cake will make your day. Guaranteed! 

I love fresh strawberries with this recipe but you can use frozen ones.  Just make sure to thaw them before using, then dry off and toss with the flour.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

• 2 cups strawberries, chopped
• 2 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 cup full fat sour cream, room temperature

For the lemon glaze:

• 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
•  1/4 cup lemon juice
•  1 zest of one lemon
•  1 teaspoon salted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Add the strawberries and 1 tablespoon of flour to a mixing bowl and toss together until all of the strawberries are coated with the flour. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar for about 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Mix in the eggs one at a time until well combined, then mix in the vanilla. Slowly mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and oil.

Add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients on low speed. 

Mix in each addition until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter. 

Then add the strawberries and gently fold them into the batter until just combined.

Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan or cake pan and evenly spread it around.

Bake at 350°F for 50-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. 

Cover loosely with foil if needed for the last 5-10 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then invert the cake onto the wire rack to finish cooling.

The Lemon Glaze

While the cake cools, make the glaze.

In a large microwavable measuring cup, the 4 cup capacity ones are the best, combine the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.

Add in the butter then microwave on high for 45 seconds.

Take out the measuring cup and whisk until smooth, making sure there are no lumps.

Let it sit for a few minutes. 

Top with the lemon glaze. 

Grandma’s Rum Cake

I’ll never forget the day I stopped by grandmother’s house to ask her to share the family recipes. I pulled up a chair at her kitchen counter, pen in hand and she asked “Where do you want to start?”

I remember being a little girl having family picnics at the lake down the street from her house and for dessert she always would make her famous rum cake. My cousins and I would always feel so grown up because we were eating rum cake. LOL

So I asked for her rum cake recipe. She laughed, opened her recipe box and handed me a recipe card. It was the Bacardi Rum Cake recipe card. “It’s that easy”, she laughed. We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and writing down her recipes. 

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This recipe makes the moistest cake you’ll ever eat. And it’s been popular since the 1970s, it’s soft, fluffy and super moist, bursting with rum and yellow cake flavor. Not to mention it’s easy to prepare, and perfect for any occasion.

You can use any rum. I use my favorite rum, 82°West 1911 Special Dark Rum. 82 West Distilling is a craft rum distillery in Tampa, right in Seminole Heights! 

It all starts with a cup of pecans sprinkled over the bottom of a bundt pan. Then you mix a package of yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and half a cup of rum until smooth. I did make one adjustment and added a tablespoon of Vanilla and mixed until combined. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for one hour.

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Once the cake is done, you prepare a simple butter-rum glaze made of butter, sugar, water and rum. Spoon the sauce all over the warm cake. Let it sit to soak in all the delicious butter-rum glaze and serve.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup chopped pecans 
• 1 box yellow cake mix (You just use the cake mix as is, do not add other ingredients listed on the cake box.)
• 1 package vanilla instant pudding mix (92 g)
• 4 eggs
• 1⁄2 cup cold water
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
• 1⁄2 cup dark rum 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla 

GLAZE INGREDIENTS

• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 cup dark rum or rum

CAKE DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle nuts over the bottom of a greased bundt pan.

Stir together cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, vanilla, water, oil and rum.

Pour batter over nuts.

Bake at 325 in the oven for 1 hour.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.

Transfer onto a serving plate and poke top with a toothpick.

GLAZE DIRECTIONS

Melt butter in a saucepan.

Stir in water and sugar.

Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat.

Stir in rum.

Drizzle ½ of the glaze evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

Allow cake to absorb glaze.

Drizzle the remaining glaze over the top of each slice right before serving.