Peach Cake

'Enough,' said Divine Cherry determinedly.
'Why, don't you like me?' asked Loneliness.
After having forsaken the Garden of the North-East, Divine Cherry went back to her customary dwelling place. It is situated in the North East of another region of the universe. Some say that it is but 500miles from the polar circle, and that the wind there never stops blowing. Still, it is generally a place of happiness, of joy and of exceedingly good memories; and Divine Cherry now spends most of her time there. It is also where the Celestial Dragon has elected domicile, and it is not where he currently is. When Divine Cherry then came home, innumerable moments ago, she found no one in the house but Loneliness, that old uninvited guest. As Divine Cherry sank on the emerald sofa that adorns the Room-that-Lives, she looked Loneliness in the face and thought no, not this time.
Unconsciously – that is, without thinking about it – Divine Cherry thought of the Five Fruit Dogs and of her first love: Golden Peach. The combination of these reminiscences led to Divine Cherry's realisation that she was still in the possession of Golden Peach's sacred fruits. She had purchased them in memoriam of the fertile Garden of the North-East. So it came to be that Divine Cherry found a way to cheerfully say 'enough' in the face of Loneliness – who, for her part, sulked. In fact, a tiny sparkle of inspiration had ignited her immense imagination, and Divine Cherry was now hell-bent (although she doesn't particularly like Hell. She rather dislikes it, to be honest: the TV screens there are rarely Full HD. It is here merely used as an expression.) on preparing a Peach Cake. So Divine Cherry got up from the emerald sofa, headed for the kitchen and diligently put herself to work.
She first mixed 150g of butter with 100g of sugar and a pinch of salt until the consistency of the mix was creamy. She then added, one by one, two eggs. Finally, she added 225g of flour and a tsp of baking powder to it and mixed it well until she ended up with a homogeneous paste. Once that was done, Divine Cherry dedicated herself to the Cutting Ritual. She first, reverently, held two peaches under the water in order to wash them from any profane impurities. Then, with utmost care and dexterity, Divine Cherry cut the peaches in slices. She made sure to leave the skin on them. Once the peaches were both cut, she again held up the holy knife and cut each and every slice again in three pieces. She then ended the ritual with the wiping of the hands on a nearby cloth. It doesn't have to be a special cloth. Some old rag will do. It just has to be clean, obviously. Divine Cherry then added the cut peaches to the mix, stirred well and transferred it all into a mould. She happened to use a mould for plum cakes, but I suspect that any mould would do, really. However, Divine Cherry made sure that the pieces of peach were distributed evenly in the mould, in order to avoid, later on, to have to play Russian Roulette: whoever gets the pieces of peach loses. Or wins. Opinions differ on the question. Eventually, Divine Cherry put it all in the preheated oven at 180°C for 40mins and sat back with a contented smile on her face.

Again:
PEACH CAKE
-150g of butter (at room temperature)
-100g of sugar
-2eggs
-225g of flour
-a tea sp of baking powder
-a pinch of salt
-2 medium-sized peaches

Work the butter with the sugar and the salt until you get a creamy consistency. Add the eggs one at the time. Now add the flour and the baking powder and mix well with a wooden spoon until you get a homogeneous paste.
Wash the peaches and cut them in slices, leaving the skin on. Cut every slice in three pieces. Add those to the mix and pour it all into a mould (in this case a plum cake mould has been used, but e.g. a round mould would do as well). Make sure that the pieces of peach are distributed evenly. Put it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 40mins.


Ricetta in italiano:
CAKE ALLE PESCHE
-150 g burro a temperatura ambiente
-100 g zucchero
-2 uova
-225 g farina
-un cucchiaino di lievito
-un pizzico di sale
-2 pesche medio grandi

Lavorare il burro a tocchetti con lo zucchero e un pizzico di sale fino ad avere una consistenza cremosa. Incorporare le uova una alla volta. Aggiungere la farina con il lievito e mescolare con un cucchiaio per avere un impasto omogeneo.
Lavare le pesche e tagliarle, lasciando la buccia, a fettine e ogni fettina in 3 pezzi. Aggiungerle all'impasto e versare il tutto in uno stampo da plum cake ( ma anche tondo va bene ovviamente...) controllando che le pesche siano distribuite uniformemente. Infornare in forno gia' caldo a 180 gradi per 40 minuti.


Enjoy,
And Spread the Mess