I like to celebrate things like releases, especially when it's my twenty-fifth book birthday. And don't birthdays deserve cakes?
Between my alter ego and me, we've had a lot of celebrations in nine years. (NOTE: the following graphic includes two books not yet released and one volume in which I have a novella, for those sharp-eyed readers who are counting!)
Not all the parties included cake, but some did. We had a wonderful cake for Delivering the Truth, which kicked off the Quaker Midwife Mysteries - and so far, it's been my only cake with a cover made of icing.
I made a carrot cake (of course) to fete five books in the Local Foods Mysteries.
I baked a cake when Murder at the Taffy Shop - my twentieth mystery - released a year and a half ago, and I decorated it with twenty of those little covers.
It kind of looks like another carrot cake, but frankly I don' remember. I guess I was too busy writing five books in a year and a half...
Anyway, now we have a new book and a new cake recipe!
I'm in New England and am a devoted consumer of local produce. Peach season is short and we're right in the middle of it. I love this easy peach cake, with one pan and no icing involved! Who knows, maybe Robbie Jordan will serve it in Pans 'N Pancakes next time the Indiana peach season rolls around.
Peach Cake
This cake is moist and crumbly and will make you want to invite
all your friends for tea - or a celebratory glass of bubbly!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ripe (about 1 pound) medium peaches, pitted, peeled, and sliced into cubes, about 2 1/4 cups chopped peaches. If peaches are hard to peel, blanch by in boiling hot water for no more than 1 minute.
Powdered sugar for dusting
Directions
Heat oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9-inch springform
pan with butter or cooking spray.
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour,
1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt.
In a large bowl, beat together 1 1/2 sticks butter with 1 cup sugar on med/high speed until fluffy (4-5 minutes).
Beat in 3 eggs, 1 at a time. Continue mixing another minute on med/high speed. Once mixture is well blended, beat in 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Set mixer to low and beat in flour mixture
just until blended.
Use a spatula to gently fold in the peaches just until
evenly dispersed.
Transfer batter to prepared springform pan.
Bake
in the center of the oven at 350˚F for 1 hour and 5 minutes.
Remove from oven
and let cool to room temp before sifting the top with powdered sugar.
Before serving, remove outer ring of pan and set base on a jar gripper on top of a larger plate or platter so it doesn't slide.
Doesn't that look yummy?
Enjoy!Readers: What's your favorite birthday cake? I'll send one lucky commenter one of my special Author aprons!
My most recent release is Country Store Mystery #9. No Grater Crime came out on Tuesday! to some pretty rocking reviews.
"A beautiful ending makes this latest addition to the Country Store Mystery series as satisfying as one of Robbie’s breakfast specials!" - Jason, Goodreads reviewer
We hope you'll visit Edith and Maddie on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.
Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.
