Makes 8 little loaf cakes (or a large 1kg/2lb 8½ × 4½ inch loaf)
This cake was created while we were working on our first book. We would have long afternoon meetings with Elizabeth, our publisher, in her office across the road from our restaurant. Tea was always involved and, inevitably, cakes. One autumn afternoon she produced a humble-looking loaf cake, delicately flavored with caraway seeds, which we both went mad for. I had never heard of or tasted seed cake before, and this one was particularly good (it’s a Delia recipe, and it’s perfect). Seeds and spices are right up our alley, so we adopted the idea with gusto and experimented a lot, with varying degrees of success. Not to replace the traditional recipe, just to offer another option. This one proved to be a great triumph.
1 tsp fennel seeds
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
seeds of ½ vanilla pod
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
225g granulated sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
a pinch of table salt
3 eggs
120g mascarpone
160g all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 peaches
Preheat the oven to 375°F/350°F convection. Butter eight small loaf tins and line each with a sheet of baking parchment to cover the base and long sides, allowing a little overhang at the sides. Don’t worry about lining the ends too, just make sure they’re greased. Lightly toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, then allow to cool before crushing.
I use an electric mixer to make the batter, but if you don’t have one, you can make it by hand. Beat the butter, vanilla seeds, zests, fennel seeds, sugar and salt together until just combined in a ball. Don’t overbeat or cream. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg in well, so that the batter is completely smooth before the next goes in. Add the mascarpone, flour and baking powder in one go and mix at full speed for a few seconds to make sure everything is well combined.
Slice two “cheeks” off each peach (one from either side of the pit), cutting as close to the pit as possible. Chop the remaining fruit into small dice and mix into the cake batter. Cut the peach “cheeks” into thin long slices. Divide the batter between the lined tins. Top each cake with four or five peach slices spread out like a small fan and sprinkle with the additional sugar.
Bake for 20–25 minutes or until risen and a lovely golden color. It is a little tricky to tell when a cake containing fresh fruit is fully baked, but the surface should feel nice and bouncy.
These are great to eat warm. They keep well at room temperature for 24 hours but after that they start to deteriorate, so be sure to gobble them up quickly.