The summer fruit crumb cake is a variation to the classic New York crumb cake with a middle layer of peaches, apricots, red currants and blueberries… are you ready to dig in? Find this and many more recipes with pictures on the Giallozafferano App (in English) http://itunes.apple.com/app/giallozafferano-recipes/id384387249?mt=8
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Today we’ll be making a delicious Anglo-American cake, the summer fruit crumb cake! It consists of a spongy cake layer, topped with fresh seasonal fruit and a crisp layer of crumbs, hence its name… let’s get to work!
Ingredients for an 8×12-inch (20×30 cm) baking pan
For the batter
• 1 ½ sticks (170 g) of softened butter
• less than 1 cup (170 g) of white sugar
• 1 ¾ cups (200 g) of cake flour
• 3 medium eggs + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla pod or 1 pinch of vanilla powder)
• ½ tbsp (8 g) of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
For the crumb topping
• ⅔ cup (75 g) of cake flour
• ⅔ cup (75 g) of almond meal
• ⅓ cup (75 g) of raw sugar
• ⅔ stick (75 g) of cold butter
• 2 good pinches of salt
• the grated zest of 1 lime
For the fruit layer
• 7 oz (200 g) of peaches
• ⅓ lb (160 g) of apricots
• ¾ cup (120 g) of blueberries
• ½ cup (50 g) of red currants
First thing to do is put the softened butter in a bowl… then add the sugar: using a stand mixer or an electric beater, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. That’s enough, as you can see the mixture is pale and fluffy, now add the vanilla extract — you can use the seeds from a vanilla pod, if desired — a pinch of salt, turn on the mixer and add one egg at a time, at room temperature, beating for another 2-3 minutes. That’s it, now we’ll add the flour and the baking powder: set a sieve over the mixing bowl and sift in the flour and the baking powder, then stir with a spoon to combine. The mixture should be muffin-like; once well blended, our cake batter is ready.
It’s time to pour the batter into a baking pan, that has been buttered and lined with parchment paper, about 8 inches (20 cm) wide by 12 inches (30 cm) long. The batter is thick as muffin batter, as you can see… after filling the pan with the batter, spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. This will be the bottom layer of our cake. Well, now we can add the fruit, that has been washed, cleaned and sliced. In this case I’m using red currants and blueberries, sprinkle half of them evenly… over the batter… then add the peaches and the apricots, that have been washed, patted dry and cut into slices. You can arrange the ingredients randomly or in neat rows, alternating peach and apricot slices, until the pan is full. If you prepare the fruit in advance, drizzle with lemon juice to prevent it from browning. Finish by sprinkling the remaining blueberries and red currants over the top and move on to the crumb topping.
Remove the diced butter from the fridge… place in a bowl… add the sugar, I’m using raw sugar… and the flours, cake flour and almond meal; mix well, then add 2 good pinches of salt and mix with the tip of your fingers to form crumbs — hence the name crumb cake — making sure not to melt the butter. Once the crumbs are formed, add the grated lime zest. Now sprinkle the resulting crumbs over the top of the cake… and bake in a preheated static oven at 350°F (180°C) for an hour, until the crumb topping is nice and crispy.
Once baked, remove the crumb cake from the oven and allow to cool a bit, then cut into squares and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, fruit preserve or soft whipped cream on the side… see you next videorecipe!