They may have a hard centre, but summer stone fruits make soft, sweet and sticky cakes that are all heart, says Benjamina Ebuehi
Serves 6-8
120g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
150g light brown sugar
40g tahini
2 eggs
130g plain flour
50g desiccated coconut
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp salt
90g cherries, pitted and halved
1 tsp sesame seeds
For the glaze:
40g cherries, pitted and halved
½ tbsp lemon juice
100g icing sugar
1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Grease and line a 15cm cake pan.
2 Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together for 4-5 mins until pale and fluffy. Add the tahini and beat for another minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3 In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, coconut, baking powder, ground cardamom and salt. Pour the mixture into the butter mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
4 Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and add the cherries on top, along with the sesame seeds. Bake for 50-55 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
5 To make the glaze, add the cherries and the lemon juice to a small bowl and mash with a fork. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, squeezing and pressing to get out as much juice as possible. Add the icing sugar to the juice and mix until you have a smooth, pourable consistency. Once the cake has cooled, drizzle over the glaze.
Taken from A Good Day to Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi (Quadrille) Photography: Laura Edwards. This is just one of the gorgeous stone fruit recipes from Benjamina that we have featured in our July issue, which is on sale now. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
