Peach Perfect Summer Tea Cake is bursting with the fresh flavour of fragrant summer peaches. It is filled with peach chunks that bakes into a custard like creaminess that is simply hard to resist. As if that wasn’t enough, this tea cake is topped with sliced peaches that has been macerated in a little bit of sugar and lemon to make it extra peachy. So if you love peaches and the good old tea cake, then this one is for you!

Here in Australia, the peak peach picking season in in summer, from October right through to April, when the peaches are at their sweet juicy best. And here’s a tip to get the most out of your peaches-if not ripe do not store them in the fridge for maximum flavour. There’s a scientific explanation for this, but I won’t go into details here. The short answer is that the cold inhibits the enzyme that helps to ripen the fruit resulting in mealy flesh.

What you need to make Summer Peach Tea Cake

Fridge and Pantry – Butter , Self Raising Flour, Eggs, Sour Cream or Greek Yoghourt, the juice and finely grated zest of 1 Lemon, Caster Sugar and Brown Sugar, Vanilla and Almond Essence (optional).
Peaches – You can use any firm but ripe peaches for this recipe. I used the white and yellow varieties, about 6 in total. I’ve even sneaked in a few apricots and they also come out good. No need to peel the fruits before using.
Panko Bread Crumbs – Bread Crumbs are important in this recipe to soak up the excess moisture of the peaches. If using Panko, crush them finely with a rolling pin, or use ordinary plain bread crumbs if that’s what you have.

Easy as..

Cut the peaches into halves, remove the stone, then slice into 2cm thick wedges. Reserve about 16 wedges(the pretty ones) and cut up the rest into chunks. For the wedges, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of caster sugar and gently mix together. This will be the topping for the cake.
Add the rest of the lemon juice and zest to the peach chunks. Mix together with 3 tablespoons caster sugar then bake in a single layer on an oven tray for 20 minutes by which time the sugar would have caramelised. Set aside to cool. Toss in breadcrumbs. This mixture will be used as filling.
To make the batter, mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. Whisk the eggs and sugars together until well combined. Then add the cooled melted butter, and the rest of the wet. Use a spatula to fold the flour into butter mixture until just combined. Do not over mix.
Place half of the batter into a prepared 20cm springform pan. Spread right to the edges and level the top. Arrange the peach chunks in an even layer over the batter, pressing them slightly into the batter. Pour remaining batter over the chunks layer . Level the top to make it smooth, then arrange the macerated peach slices on top in a circular pattern, slightly overlapping with each other. Sprinkle the top evenly with a bit of caster sugar, then bake for about 1 hour or until the middle of the cake is set and a tester comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool slightly in a cooling rack, before removing the sides of the pan. Cool completely before transferring to a serving plate.

This goes with..

Served warm or cold, it’s delicious and flavourful enough without any embellishments.
Pairs particularly well with your favourite Vanilla Ice Cream.