One of the best things about moving to Canada is the peaches. They are just sooo good here. I’ve been looking forward to them since I ate my last peach pie at thanksgiving that I had been keeping specially stashed away in the freezer so that my sister could taste the deliciousness of BC peaches when she came to visit. You just can’t get peaches this juicy and flavourful in england. And you can’t buy them by the boxload. So last year’s peach season was dedicated to mastering the peach pie, which I will surely be making again this year. But I also wanted to make some sort of peach cake.
I know it’s supposed to be peaches and cream, but I’m not actually a fan of cream. Yoghurt is a lovely lighter option that goes so well with the fresh, juicy peaches. The cake is a classic vanilla cake with yoghurt added that makes it rich and moist. Then we add a layer of yoghurt icing, which is actually labneh, made by straining the yoghurt making it extra thick and creamy…and spreadable like regular cake frosting. Next we add the layer of juicy peaches with a few raspberries thrown in the mix if you so desire. Then repeat all again for the ultimate peach and yoghurt cake!
– Peach and Yoghurt Cake –
Dry
1 cup cake flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Wet
3/4 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla
Labneh Frosting
4 cups yoghurt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 peaches
handful of raspberries (optional)
Labneh Frosting
The night before: Line a large sieve with cheesecloth and set over a bowl so that it rests at least an inch off the bottom. Place the yogurt in the cheesecloth. Cover and put in the fridge to let drain overnight.
The next day take the strained yoghurt from the fridge and discard the whey. Spoon the labneh into a bowl, add the vanilla, sift in the icing sugar and whisk together.
Cake
Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and line a 9×13 inch sheet pan with baking paper.
In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. In another bowl whisk all the wet ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together until just mixed.
Pour the batter into the sheet pan and bake until the the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 40mins. Let the cake cool slightly for 5 mins, then carefully transfer onto a cooling rack.
When the cake is cool, cut off the edges of the cake and slice in half. Spread half the yoghurt frosting on top of one half. Slice the peaches and layer on top. Place the second cake half on top and repeat with the yoghurt and peaches.
