Nectarine and Blueberry Cake

It is summer in Australia, and with summer comes all of the best fruits.  I love stone fruits, tropical fruits and berries, and they are all cheap and available at the moment.

A great way to enjoy your favourite  fruits, apart from just eating them au naturel, is to include them in your baking.  Recently, Jordan Rondel featured a lovely recipe for a nectarine and blueberry cake which is a perfect way to showcase two summer fruits.  Best of all, it is very easy to make. 

The cake is double layered, and sandwiched together with a luscious cream cheese frosting:

If you'd like to try this wonderful summery treat, you will need:

150g butter

150 sugar
3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g almond meal

100g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sour cream

2 nectarines sliced into thin sections

1 cup fresh blueberries

Frosting*

150g butter

2 cups icing sugar

100g cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line 2 x 22cm cake tins.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.  One at a time, beat in the eggs, then beat in the vanilla.  Fold in the almond meal, flour, baking powder and salt, then the sour cream.

Divide the mixture evenly between two tins.  Evenly place the nectarine slices and blueberries on top of each cake and press down lightly.    Bake for 30 minutes or until cooled through, rotating the pans half way through the cooking time.

Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before unmoulding onto wire racks to cool.

To make the frosting, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth and creamy.  Beat in the icing sugar.  Cube the cream cheese, then beat it into the mixture gradually until the frosting is smooth.  

Spread half the frosting between the cake layers to sandwich them together, and spread the remaining half of the frosting over on top of the cake.  (* Or do what I did, and halve the frosting and only put frosting in between the two cake layers.)