Early season peaches are just coming into season here. I don’t really grow stonefruit – we are smack bang in fruit fly territory and it’s just too much work. I have a couple of volunteer seedling peach trees though, and although most years the birds, possums, and flying foxes get most of the fruit, the trees bear so heavily we get some. All of it is fruit fly stung but good for cooking, or for eating straight from the tree, ideally shared with some chooks who fight over the fruit fly stung parts as I drop them.
There is good stone fruit growing country on the Tablelands though, within my 100 mile zone but only for a short while, so time to make the most of it.
This is an adaption of an adaption of a traditional Italian recipe. The original original is Sbrisolona, which has a crumbly texture. Sbrisoletta is a cake-like version invented by a “Nonna” called Rose – you can find that original here. It was still a bit too sweet and dessert-like and too crumbly for a Muesli Bar Challenge recipe though, so my niece Rosie and I did some experimenting and made it into a lunchbox Sbrisoletta.
This cake is the most gorgeous way to use lots of stonefruit. It has very little sugar, a bit more butter than the usual but still within the rules, and it is really easy – 12 year old Rosie made this one. It is an unlikely kind of recipe – several bits don’t seem right – but it works.
The Recipe:
Makes about 12 squares or slices.
For this recipe you need a shallow cake pan that is 21 cm diameter, or (preferably) a similar area in a square or rectangular shape, eg 18.5 cm square, or 14cm by 25 cm rectangle. Grease it with butter and line with greaseproof paper.
Turn your oven on to heat up.
Plump up a tablespoon of sultanas, by pouring just a little boiling water over them.
In the food processor, blend together
- 4/5 of a cup of wholemeal self raising flour
- 2/3 of a cup of semolina
- 4 dessertspoons of brown sugar
- 125 grams of cold butter, chopped into pieces
- pinch salt
- ¾ teaspoon of baking powder
Blend for a minute until it resembles breadcrumbs – like the first stage of making pastry.
Spread two thirds of this mix over the base of your greased, paper-lined cake tin. Don’t press it down – just leave it as a loose crumb.
Over the top of this, sprinkle evenly:
- 600 grams of ripe, juicy peaches (about 6 medium peaches) chopped into small bits
- Your tablespoon of plumped up sultanas (drained)
- A tablespoon of pine nuts
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Grated zest of a lemon
Spread the rest of the dry mix over this.
Beat together and Pour Over:
- Half a cup of milk
- 2 small eggs (or one egg and one egg yolk)
Pour this evenly over the top of the dry mix in the cake pan. Allow it to soak in for a few minutes. You can sprinkle a few flaked almonds on top as decoration if you like.
Bake in a moderate oven for around 45 minutes until set.
Before You Cut It Up
Cover the warm cake and leave to cool for a few hours or overnight in the cake pan. If you try to remove it while it is hot, it will be too crumbly. But overnight the moisture in it spreads out and it firms up and can be cut up into squares that are robust enough for a lunch box.
Moist and tasty, a treat at lunch. just peachy!
It even looked good as soon as it was unwrapped. A very nice fruity mix. It all held together well without being too chewy.
Linda, that looks delicious! Lucky chooks! 🙂
great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!liked the icing stuff on top !!
liked it lots!!!!
Well done Rosie! Eating this delicious slice was much easier than pronouncing the name of it. The fruit was ust the right amount and it didnt taste too sweet – very flash for the lunch box.
deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!!!
Hi Celia, wish I had chooks at the moment. Still working on a carpet snake proof roost. And the guard geese strategy hasn’t worked – the geese have been evicted from their island by a pair of wild ducks!
mmmmmmm… lindy you no how to COOK!!!!DELISHIOUS!!!!!9/10!!!
awsome realy tasty love the bits in it.!!!!
Yum. sweet and delicious!!!
it was lots of fun to help lindy make this. i love peaches, and this is now one of my favourite types of cake
Delicious mum. Not too overbearingly sweet, nice and moist and full of fruit.
Peaches are always so delicious in cake type cooking. No wonder they were a hit in the lunchbox.
Hi, my kids go to a Nut Free school, what could I sub for the pine nuts do you think?
Hi Alana, you could leave the nuts out altogether and it wouldn’t make any difference to the structure. The cake would still work. Or, you could substitute a seed, lightly toasted, like sesame or sunflower seeds. Or maybe even coconut. I haven’t tried any of these, but that’s the direction I’d be experimenting with. Maybe just add a teaspoon the first time and see if you like it.
Thanks Linda! Will let you know how I go 🙂