My plum “cobbler” and my biggest hugs to my American readers

My dear readers, how have you all been?

I know that those of you in the U.S. are going through a rough time now with the approaching elections and the possibility of a criminal becoming your president. I feel for you, since Brazilians like me went through this very same hell a couple of years ago. I send you all my love.

I haven’t been around here much, the good old excuse of lack of time: unfortunately, we don’t always have time for our favorite things, right?

Many, many Sundays ago I was on the couch, watching something on TV while João took a nap after lunch. I wanted to have a little sweet something, and even went to the kitchen to grab a piece of chocolate, but it was not what I really wanted: my wish was more specific, I craved something comforting.

Usually, when I feel like that, I make a crumble, but that day I felt like making a more practical version of a cobbler: fruit + a cake batter. Not to brag or anything, but it turned out really delicious, that is why I am sharing the recipes with you here today – I hope you like it as much as I did.  xx

My plum “cobbler”

own recipe

 

Filling and bater:

2 medium plums (170g/6oz)

¼ cup (35g) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (33g) almond flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of sal

¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

¼ cup (65g) plain unsweetened yogurt

2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil – I used canola

1 large egg, room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons Amaretto or Frangelico – optional: they enhance the almond flavor

 

Topping:

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons flaked almonds

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Brush a 450ml (approx. 1 pint) heatproof shallow dish with butter. Remove the stones from the plums, dice into 1cm (approx. ¼-in) cubes and spread into the dish evenly. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In another small bowl, whisk well the sugar, yogurt, oil, egg, vanilla and Frangelico/Amaretto (if using). Pour over the dry ingredients and mix until you have a cake batter – do not overmix, or cake will be tough.

Pour batter over the plums and mix them slightly into the batter. Sprinkle with the sugar and almonds of the topping, transfer the dish to a baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen, golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm with cream, vanilla ice cream or plain yogurt.

 

Serves 2

Eggnog rice pudding with roasted cherries and the reason why I love Christmas so much

I think it is fair to say that the main reason why I love Christmas so much is because it reminds me of my mom: she loved it and I can’t forget all the preparation around the house while the holiday songs were playing on the record player. Because of that, I decided to finish my Christmas series this year with a recipe that I make every time I miss her more than my heart can bear: rice pudding.

Unfortunately this is not her recipe – once my father got married again his wife made sure everything related to my mother got destroyed and tossed away, and the recipe notebooks were then gone forever – but it doesn’t matter: it reminds me a lot of rainy afternoons with piping hot rice pudding and cartoons on TV.

This time I served it cold because of the delicious roasted cherries I paired with it, and I added nutmeg and brandy to evoke the flavors of eggnog – it was delicious and it filled my heart with joy.

I wish you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year – thank you for keeping me company all this time! xx

Eggnog rice pudding with roasted cherries
own creation

Roasted cherries:
150g fresh cherries
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
juice of ½ large orange, freshly squeezed
1 small cinnamon stick

Rice pudding:
½ cup (110g) long grain rice
3 cups (720ml) whole milk
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Start with the cherries: preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Cut cherries in half and remove the pits. Place them in a 4-cup shallow heatproof dish, stir in the sugar, orange juice and cinnamon stick, then roast for 20 minutes or until fruit is bubbly. Let cool completely, then cover and refrigerate.

While the cherries are roasting, make the rice: place the rice in a colander and wash it under the tap with cold water, rubbing the grains with your fingers until water runs clear. Set aside to drain for 10 minutes.
Place the rice, milk, sweetened condensed milk and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring, until mixture starts to boil. Turn down the heat, add the nutmeg, brandy and vanilla and cook, stirring so mixture doesn’t catch in the bottom of the saucepan, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool, then cover and refrigerate.

Serve the rice pudding with the cherries on the side.

Serves 4

Plum and marzipan torta with cardamom sugar for the end of the summer

I cannot wait for fall to come – I never liked hot days and have had enough with the high temperatures around here. Summer was never a favorite of mine, not even when I was a kid, so you can imagine how uncomfortable these past months have been for me.

There is one good thing about summer: the delicious produce we have at this time of the year. Corn, tomatoes and stone fruits – my favorites. However, while flipping some cookbooks weeks ago, it suddenly hit me: summer is almost over and I haven’t baked or cooked much with stone fruit. I love them so much yet I keep baking recipes with citrus or chocolate or peanut butter – I should enjoy these beauties while there’s still time.

For that reason I decided to make at least one of the plum recipes I saw on the latest issue of Gourmet Traveller (and I plan on making another next weekend): this torta, or cake, beautifully presented with gleaming plum halves. The addition of marzipan was my idea because anything almond always pairs wonderfully with anything stone fruit – this time was no different and I’m very proud of that. ;)

Plum and marzipan torta with cardamom sugar
slightly adapted from the always stunning Gourmet Traveller

Poached plums:
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
200ml water
5 plums, halved and stones removed

Cake:
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 egg
130g granulated sugar
225g all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
60g unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
100g marzipan, in small pieces – I used homemade
2 tablespoons melted butter, for brushing the cake

Cardamom sugar topping:
1 tablespoon icing sugar
¼ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom

For poached plums, stir sugar and water in a medium saucepan over high heat to dissolve sugar, then bring to the simmer. Reduce heat to low, add plums and poach until tender (10-12 minutes). Cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square cake pan, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Combine milk and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. Whisk the egg and sugar in a separate bowl to combine, then add milk mixture, flour, baking powder, salt, melted butter, vanilla and lemon zest, whisk until smooth, then pour into prepared pan. Drain plums (discard poaching liquid) and press gently into cake batter. Scatter with marzipan pieces and press them lightly into the cake batter. Bake until an inserted skewer comes out clean (25-30 minutes). Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Turn right way up again (carefully), then brush with melted butter.
For cardamom sugar, combine sugar and cardamom, scatter on top of warm cake and serve warm or at room temperature. The torta is best eaten on the day it’s made.

Serves 6-8 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20x28cm tart pan with a removable bottom

Nectarine, plum and brown butter shortbread bars and feeling lucky

Amazon showers me with emails filled with cookbook offers every week, and since I’m a cookbook junkie it is hard to resist them, so I just take a quick look and delete them (most of the times). :) However, there was a cookbook on the email I received yesterday that made me smile, and then I immediately placed it in my cart – it was Jack Monroe’s cookbook.

I discovered her blog months ago and many tears later I became a fan. Despite being from a family that had a tight budget back in the day, we always had plenty of good food around, and I grew up eating all the fresh veggies and fruit I wanted – I can’t imagine what Jack and her son went through, not even close. It is great to see her now with a cookbook deal, writing for newspapers and such, and I wish her all the success in the world.

It is because of Jack and her lovely little boy that I felt like sharing this recipe with you today: these delicious bars were made with the fruit I had left from Christmas dinner – beautiful nectarines and plums that I was too stuffed to eat. I could afford to have more fruit than I would actually eat – that is just too great to be taken for granted.

I have food on my table every day, sometimes more than enough, and I feel very lucky for it.

Nectarine, plum and brown butter shortbread bars
slightly adapted from here

1 cup (226g/2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 ½ cups (350g) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
2 juicy, ripe but slightly firm nectarines, pitted and thinly sliced*
2 juicy, ripe but slightly firm plums, pitted and thinly sliced

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. The melted butter will foam, then become clear golden, and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom. Watch the butter carefully at the end, as it turns brown quickly. Transfer to a shallow, small container and cool to room temperature, then chill in the freezer until solid but not completely frozen, about 30 minutes.
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 190°C/375°F. Lightly butter a 32.5x22.5cm (9x13in) baking pan, line it with foil and butter the foil as well.
In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, baking powder, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 table knives, blend the solidified brown butter and the egg into the dry ingredients (I used the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed). The brown butter mixture will be crumbly. Pat ¾ of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing firmly. Arrange the nectarine and plum slices on top in a single layer. Crumble the remaining brown butter mixture evenly over the fruit.
Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan, then cut into squares.

* if your plums and nectarines are very large, you might need just one of each

Makes about 24 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (12x8in) pan

Tiny cherry and almond tea cakes - another recipe with cherries

Another recipe with cherries, another cake, but this time in teeny-tiny form, and the reason why I didn’t make these adorable mini cakes years before was that I didn’t own a mini muffin pan.
I’m not really sure why it took me so long to buy a mini muffin pan – I guess that every time I saw it at the store I found something I needed more, or I wasn’t in the mood for spending money on another kitchen gadget – oh, wait, that can’t be it. :D

Months ago I finally bought the pan, but then had to wait till December for cherry season, and at the end it was worth it – the cakes turned out flavorsome, with a nice, chewy texture (think financiers), not to mention super cute. <3

Just make sure everyone eating them knows the cherries aren’t pitted, please – these delicate darlings call for delicate bites. :D


Tiny cherry and almond tea cakes
slightly adapted from Martha

110g all-purpose flour
1 cup (100g) almond meal
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 large egg whites
3 teaspoons Amaretto (or Kirsch)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
24 sweet (Bing) cherries

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Brush a 24-cup mini muffin pan with butter, and dust lightly with flour.
Whisk together flour, ground almonds, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add egg whites, and whisk until smooth. Stir in Amaretto and vanilla. Pour in butter and whisk to combine. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Fill each muffin cup with about 1 tablespoon batter, filling about halfway. Push a cherry into each, keeping stem end up. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and cakes are golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then unmold and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cakes can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature overnight.

Makes 24

Cherry, pistachio and marzipan cake, and things worth waiting for

Every time I see something delicious made with cherries I mentally file the recipe to make it by the end of the year, when the fruit is abundant, sweet and not as expensive as during the winter. The problem is there are always many recipes to be made and cherry season is, unfortunately, too short.

One of the recipes I’d been meaning to make for a while was this cake from Delicious Australia, which combines two passions of mine: cherries and marzipan. The cake turned out moist and flavorsome, perfumed with orange blossom water, which is something I love, but if you’re not into it just replace it with vanilla extract. I found the pistachios on the top of the cake to be a bit too much and, as much as I love these nuts I don’t think they’re an interesting addition here – I liked the cake better without them.

It certainly paid off to wait months to prepare this wonderful cake, as much as it paid off to go to sleep at 2 a.m. to see the brilliant Leonard DiCaprio receive a Golden Globe. :)

Cherry, pistachio and marzipan cake
slightly adapted from the stunning Delicious Australia

Cake:
300g cherries, pitted, finely chopped
150g marzipan, chopped into 1cm pieces – I used homemade
150g all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon, extra, for dusting the cherries
200g unsalted butter, softened
185g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
100g almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
50g unsalted pistachio kernels, lightly toasted, chopped
icing sugar, for dusting

Syrup:
juice of the orange zested for the cake
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Butter a 20cm (8in) springform cake pan (I used a pan with a removable bottom), line the bottom with a circle of baking paper, then wrap the outside with foil (this will prevent batter from leaking).
Toss cherries and marzipan in the extra 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar and orange zest with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes until thick and pale, then beat in orange blossom water and the vanilla.
Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt, then stir through half the marzipan and cherries. Spread mixture into pan, sprinkle over remaining marzipan and cherries, then gently press into the batter, making sure they’re just covered.
Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 160°C and bake for a further 50-60 minutes until light golden and cooked through.
Meanwhile, for the syrup: place all the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, then cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium and cook for a further 1-2 minutes until thick and syrupy.
Pierce cake all over with a skewer, then drizzle over warm syrup. Sprinkle with pistachios and dust with icing sugar. Cool slightly, then remove cake from the pan and cool completely before serving.

Serves 6-8 – I made the exact recipe above, but baked the cake at 180°C/350°F the entire time (total of 60 minutes)

Plum and amaretti crumble - 33°C and all

One resolution I’m keeping in 2014 is to continue using the inventory idea (thank you, Martha!) – it’s worked fine so far and avoided lots of waste. However, I’m not perfect (the Internet seems to make us all look very neat and tidy and put together all the time, doesn’t it? I don’t like that at all) and I do deviate from my plan now and then, and that is what happened when I bought a small bag of amaretti for my Christmas rocky road and ended up using Turkish delight instead.

Stone fruits are in season here right now and I’ve been enjoying cherries, plums and peaches like there’s no tomorrow – I would love to bake with them, too, but the problem is I usually eat them all before turning the oven on (which has been hard to do lately here because of the awful heat). Days ago, 33°C (91°F) and all, I decided to make Nigella’s plum crumble, that way using some of the amaretti left from the Christmas baking. It was really delicious: the flavor of the cookies paired beautifully with the ripe, juicy plums, and a small jug of very cold cream helped bring down the temperature a little (that and a cold shower right after dessert). :D

Plum and amaretti crumble
slightly adapted from the super delicious Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration

Fruit:
35g amaretti biscuits (crunchy, not morbidi) - I used these
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
250g ripe red plums, quartered if large, halved if small, stones removed
½ tablespoon granulated sugar
finely grated zest and juice of ½ lemon

Crumble topping:
50g all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
30g cold unsalted butter, cut into small dice

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Have ready a 1 ½ cup (360ml) capacity ovenproof dish. Crush the amaretti with your hands and set aside.
Fruit: melt the butter in a small saucepan (that has a lid), add the plums, sprinkle in the sugar, add the lemon zest and juice and shake the pan over the heat, cooking for two minutes without a lid and two further minutes with the lid on. Transfer the plums to the dish and sprinkle with half the crushed amaretti.

Topping: put the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a small bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and rub the ingredients with your fingertips until you get a mixture that resembles coarse crumbs. With a fork, mix in the remaining amaretti crumbs. Spread mixture over plums, then bake for about 20 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbling around the edges. Set aside for 10 minutes, then serve with cream or ice cream.

Serves 1

Cinnamon-sugar plum cake + Helen Hunt

I once wrote about the type of characters I’d like to play if I were an actress, and now I have to add Helen Hunt’s fantastic Cheryl to the list: not only the character herself is a very interesting one, but also Hunt’s portrayal is one of the best I’ve seen in years – she surrenders completely to the character which is something I’ve seen very few times, and that is rare because very few actresses/actors have the talent to do it.

I know that my opinion doesn’t matter to the movie industry but to me Helen Hunt had the most powerful performance last year – and not even 10 Anne Hathaways shaving their heads screaming a song won’t change that. :)
Although I’m writing about Helen Hunt today, “The Sessions” is a fantastic movie as a whole: a great script – funny, witty, moving – with amazing performances; John Hawkes is absolutely magnificent – a friend sent me a link to a video of the real Mark O’Brien and Hawkes nailed even his voice perfectly – what an astounding performance. And William H. Macy, who is always very competent, is adorable as the priest. “The Sessions” is a movie worth seeing and it is even better than I’d expected.

***

Plums are in season here now and I’ve been enjoying them a lot lately – unfortunately, some of the plums I’d bought were too sour, even for my taste. I then decided to bake a cake with them, and this delicious recipe – which I believe would be wonderful with nectarines, peaches or cherries – comes from the cookbook that never disappoints.

Cinnamon-sugar plum cake
from the always delicious Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) + 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar, divided use
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
3-4 large plums, pitted, cut into little over 1cm (½in) wedges
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan*.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Using electric mixer, beat butter and ¾ cup (150g) of the sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla, lemon zest and juice, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in flour mixture just until incorporated. Spread batter in prepared pan.
Press plum wedges halfway into batter in concentric circles, spacing slightly apart. Mix remaining 1 ½ tablespoons sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; sprinkle over plums. Bake until cake is browned on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cut around cake; release pan sides. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

* I made the exact recipe above using a 20cm (8in) round cake pan with a removable bottom, base lined with a circle of baking paper

Serves 6-8

Spiced plum pavlovas + a nice hint

You know well about my love for Donna Hay’s work: I have some of her cookbooks – cannot live without “Modern Classics 2” – and I’ve been a subscriber to her magazine since September 2006. But for the past year I’ve been having trouble receiving the magazines – last year’s winter issue never arrived and the same happened to this year’s summer issue. I do not know if they’ve changed the shipping method or something, because a friend of mine – who lives here in Brazil, too – has had the same problem. I’d been thinking (with a broken heart) of cancelling my subscription until yesterday, when I saw this on Donna’s website – I purchased the summer issue and now I have it on my computer. I printed one page as a test – wonderful. Since some of you love the magazine I thought you should know about its digital version. Hope you enjoy it!

These pavlovas were the dessert of choice for a dinner with friends last week – I made them because I wanted something pretty and fresh. But what really got my attention here was the plums: they were delicious and paired beautifully with a simple cake I’d baked, too. Just perfect.

Spiced plum pavlovas
slightly adapted from the most wonderful dessert book I own

Meringues:
4 large egg whites (112g)
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Plums:
450g plums, halved, pitted, sliced into eights
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

To assemble:
1 cup (240ml) chilled heavy cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted

Meringues: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt in large bowl until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until whites are thick and resemble marshmallow creme, about 5 minutes. Beat in cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla. Drop meringue onto prepared sheet in 6 mounds, spaced 7cm (3in) apart. Using back of spoon, make depression in center of each.
Place meringues in oven. Immediately reduce temperature to 120°C/250°F. Bake until meringues are dry outside (but centers remain soft) and pale straw color and lift easily from parchment, about 50 minutes. Cool on sheet on rack. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Plums: combine all ingredients in large frying pan; toss to coat. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until plums are tender but still hold shape, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes longer; cool to room temperature. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to bowl. Cover and chill.)

Before assembling the pavlovas, beat cream and sugar in medium bowl until medium peaks form.
Place meringues on plates. Spoon whipped cream into the center depression. Arrange plum slices on top of the cream and drizzle with the plum juices.

Serves 6

Nectarine and blackberry crumble

Last time I posted a crumble recipe here I told you about one movie I loved watching as a kid – this past weekend I finally watched, from beginning to end with no interruptions, my husband’s favorite movie as a kid, “Stand by Me”; it amazes me how someone who directed this movie and “Misery” is also responsible for “Rumor Has It…” – that’s life, I guess. :)

To go with the subject above another crumble recipe – this time I’m using nectarines, which are in season here now.

Nectarine and blackberry crumble
adapted from the absolutely beautiful Tender, Volume 2

3 nectarines, pits removed, coarsely chopped
generous ½ cup blackberries – I used frozen, unthawed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon corn starch

Crumble topping:
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
2 ½ tablespoons (35g) unsalted butter, room temperature, chopped
2-3 tablespoons flaked almonds, lightly toasted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Have ready two 1-cup (240ml) capacity ovenproof ramekins or cups.
In a small bowl, mix the nectarines, blackberries, sugar and corn starch. Divide equally between the ramekins.
In a medium bowl, place flour, sugar and butter and, using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the flaked almonds and mix. Sprinkle over the fruit mixture and bake for 20-25 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbling.
Serve with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 2

Lemony nectarine cake + Bill Condon

I always say that a good director can get blood out of a stone – that is why I had a feeling that “Breaking Dawn” would be the best movie of the Twilight saga. I adore some of Bill Condon’s work – both "Gods and Monsters" and "Kinsey" are part of my list; he got a good performance out of Brendan Fraser – a miracle! – and made it possible for me to stand Beyonce and Eddie Murphy for two long hours. :D

Now, the cake: very tender, with a delicious lemon hint. I think that a few raspberries scattered over the batter with the nectarine slices would be a good idea.

Lemony nectarine cake
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Donna Hay Magazine

175g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (162g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ cup (65g) plain yogurt
2 nectarines, sliced
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) round baking pan, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Place the butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 6–8 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the mixture. Add the yogurt and beat until just combined.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Top with the nectarine slices and bake for 50-60 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan, over a wire rack, for 15 minutes then carefully unmold. Remove the paper then invert the cake again. Cool completely and dust with icing sugar before serving.

Serves 6-8