"The only stumbling block is fear of failure.
In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude." - Julia Child

Saturday, July 31, 2010

STONE FRUIT TEA CAKE

My, oh my! Being an amatuer, I surprised myself by setting up this blog and posting my first attempt on this cake. I think this cake has some kind of magical powers in me :p
Anyways, me no professional photographer. I just use my trusty old Nikon Coolpix and snap away. I am such a clutz when it comes to photography.




The moment I saw the pics and recipes from My Kitchen Snippets, I told myself I just gotta try this. I have been following MKS for awhile and I simply adore her blog. But that does not mean I bake or cook all the time. For some unexplainable reasons, I simply love buying recipes books, watching food channels, reading food blogs.... well, hoping I would end up cooking and baking often for family and friends.
My friends could not believed I "bake-it-myself". They loved it!
I have leftover cherries in the fridge - good start. So I got peaches and blueberries from the nearby supermarket and bake away!!! (Extra peaches for myself to eat- love em!)

Here is the recipe adapted from My Kitchen Snippets.


Ingredients:


1 tbsp butter (for greasing pan)
150gm all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
100gm sugar
80gm butter
1 + 1/2 eggs (I used 2 eggs)
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp brown sugar (I used 2 tsp only)
1 peach- removed the stones and cut small
1 cup blueberries
1 cup cherries - halve and removed stones



1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. With a mixer, cream the sugar and butter together on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, then stir in the orange zest and vanilla.
2. Add the flour in 2 or three shifts, mixing just until a smooth dough forms. It will be pretty soft still. Dollop it out onto two pieces of plastic wrap, making one mound of dough slightly larger than the other. Wrap the dough blobs in the plastic and form them into flat discs. Place on a baking sheet and stick them in the freezer for 30 minutes. While waiting, prepare and cut your fruits.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Butter a shallow, 8-inch baking dish or tart pan. Take the slightly bigger parcel of dough and press it down onto the bottom of the pan. Scatter the fruit over the dough. Break the second disc of dough into tsp size balls and scatter them over the fruit.
4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly golden and firm. Cool for 30 minutes before serving.



P.S, I did not stick the dough into the freezer either.