Recipe: Vanilla Cake with Summer Fruit

Chatelaine's Vanilla Cake with Summer Fruit

I've been awol from the blog lately since I've been working on the launch of the official Lime Shop website. It's up and running now so make sure you check it out!

Since I've been so busy, I've hardly had the time to bake but as soon as I saw this cake in my mum's Chatelaine, I knew I had to try it.

It's pretty simple to make and you probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry.

I followed the directions exactly as stated in the recipe. In regards to cooking time, I found 65 mins was a little too much . I had checked the cake at 50 mins, but found the middle still needed cooking. (It's a lot of batter that you're baking through.) 65 mins was too much since the cake was a deep brown color and the edges where too tough for my liking. I resolved this by cutting away the edges of the cake to reveal the nice moist cake inside.

Decorating this cake could not have been easier. You literally drizzle your icing on top (if it's too runny, just add more icing sugar to thicken it) and decorate it with fruit.

The recipe calls for 2 peaches, thinly sliced. There was no way I could fit 2 peaches on this cake so I reserved the remaining slices in a bowl. My guests where more than happy to pass the bowl around the table and top their cake with additional fruit.

If you need a simple cake to impress your guests, definitely give this one a try. Just be sure to bake the actual cake an hour or two before your guests arrive to give it time to cool down before decorating it.

::: Nathalie

CHATELAINE'S VANILLA CAKE WITH SUMMER FRUIT

Makes 12 Servings

FOR CAKE:

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups milk

FOR ICING:

3 tbsp milk

2 cups sifted icing sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

3 160 g containers berries

2 thinly sliced peaches

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 9x13-in. glass baking dish with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper. Spray again. Stir flour with baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until butter is creamy. Add sugar. Cream together until fluffy.

3. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Beat well to incorporate. On low speed, add a third of the flour mixture followed by half of the milk. Repeat additions, ending with flour.

4. Scrape into prepared pan. Smooth top gently. Bake in centre of oven until it is deep golden and a cake tester inserted into centre of cake comes out clean, 65 to 75 min. If cake becomes deep golden before it is done baking, cover very loosely with foil. Cool on a rack 10 min, then remove from pan and cool completely, about 2 hours.

5. Whisk milk into icing sugar until smooth. Whisk in extract. Spread over cooled cake. Slice cake, then serve topped with berries and peaches.