Cooking Club: Your next challenge is peaches & cream cake

Say what you will about the weather, but the peaches this summer could not be any better. So sweet and juicy they literally explode in your mouth! We celebrate this sensational stone fruit with our simple yet sophisticated Peaches & Cream Cake from the August issue of Chatelaine. A delicious cake is brushed with fresh lime syrup and then crowned with peaks of whipped cream and juicy peaches and lime zest. It’s sweet, tart, buttery – and a dazzling showstopper! Best of all, it takes 30 minutes to prepare. So wow guests this weekend -- but not before you snap a pic and show us what you’ve got.

But wait, there’s more: Now the Chatelaine Cooking Club comes with prizing!

The best Peaches & Cream Cake photo, as chosen by the Chatelaine Kitchen, will receive a terrific gift pack from Metro including stainless-steel BBQ tongs, BBQ turner and grilling basket, a premium ice cream scoop, tea towels and a $20 Metro gift card. (Click here for contest rules and regulations.)

How to post your pic? Once you have your photo, you can post it one of three ways (make sure you’re not on a private setting):

Follow us on Instagram, then post your photo using @ChatelaineKitchen

Follow us on Twitter, then tweet us your photo with the hashtag #ChatelaineKitchen

Like us on Facebook, then message us your photo

Email us your picture at chatelaine.kitchen@gmail.com

Get your photos posted by Thursday August 29 at noon to be considered for the club’s gallery the following day, which will be featured with the next week’s recipe.

Quick photo tips: Don’t use a flash, natural light is best. Just place your plate near a window and shoot away. Don’t bother using props – they’ll detract from the featured food. Overhead is always nice, close-ups work well, and get in close so we can see what’s cookin’! The larger the photo, the better.

Peaches & Cream Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp milk
• 4 tsp lime zest
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups 35% cream
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 3 large peaches, unpeeled, cut into wedges

Instructions

• PREHEAT oven to 350F. Butter an 8-in. round cake pan and line bottom with parchment.
• STIR flour with baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
• BEAT butter with 3/4 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, about 1 min. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk, lime zest and vanilla. Reduce speed and gradually beat in flour mixture until until just blended.
• SCRAPE batter into a prepared pan and smooth top.
• BAKE in centre of oven until a cake tester inserted in centre of cake comes out clean, about 35 min.
• BOIL lime juice with 2 tbsp granulated sugar in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
• COOL cake in pan on rack for 15 min, then turn out onto rack. Remove parchment. Brush top of cake with lime syrup. Cool completely, about 45 min.
• WHIP cream with icing sugar until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 min.
• SPREAD whipped cream on cake. Top with peaches.