This elegant little vanilla cake is a keeper. It is good enough to serve guests and a delicious self-indulgence when you raid the kitchen at midnight.
I’m always drawn to a recipe that makes interesting use of an ingredient that is unusual in its genre. In this case, this peach cake uses fennel seeds which have a subtle licorice-like flavor.
If you are not familiar with fennel and fennel seeds, here is a photo. Both are readily available in your market.
Fennel has been consumed for a very long time. Reportedly, Roman warriors believed that fennel seeds gave them extra strength and kept them thin. The discussion of fennel in the diet made its way into ancient mythology, too. Prometheus, for example, hid fire in a fennel stalk. Dionysus carried a wand of fennel.
During the Middle Ages, Charlemagne decreed that fennel must be grown in every garden, believing that the herb bore healing properties. Medieval Europeans also stuffed fennel fronds in keyholes and hung it on doors to ward off ghosts. Even the Puritans bought into the fennel story. Reportedly, they carried the idea of consuming fennel seeds in church from Europe to America, believing that chewing the seeds would suppress stomach sounds during services. Fennel seeds were called “meeting seeds.”
Today, fennel bulbs and seeds are pretty widely used in stews and gratins. They also are still used as a digestive. Next time you are out enjoying an Indian meal, be sure to grab a handful of the fennel (and other seeds) commonly left in a bowl beside the register as you leave the restaurant. Indians chew the seeds to freshen their breath and to aid digestion after a heavy meal.
You can find several savory recipes using fennel here on Blue Cayenne. Just type “fennel” into the search bar to the right.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 t. fennel seeds
- 125 g. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1/2 T. vanilla paste (or the seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod)
- Zest of one lemon
- Zest of one orange
- 225 g. granulated sugar (plus 1 t. for sprinkling)
- A pinch of table salt
- 3 large eggs
- 120 g. mascarpone
- 160 gram all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t. baking powder
- 2 peaches
- Fruit and extra mascarpone for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare 2 small loaf pans (or one large loaf pan) by buttering the pans and putting a strip of parchment in the pan so that it covers the bottom and long sides of the pan. When you cut your parchment paper, cut it long enough to hang over the long sides of the pan. You will use those long overhang strips of parchment as handles to remove the cake from the pan after you've baked it.
- Prepare the fennel seeds for your cake by toasting the seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes. The seeds are properly roasted when they give off a toasted aroma. Remove the seeds from the pan and let them cool. Coarsely crush the seeds. Set aside.
- Using the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the butter, vanilla, zests, fennel seeds, sugar and salt until it just begins to come together in a ball. (Do not overmix.) Add the room temperature eggs one at a time. Mix each egg thoroughly into the batter before adding the next egg. Add mascarpone, flour and baking powder to the batter and mix at full speed for a few seconds until all the ingredients are well combined.
- Prepare the fresh peaches. Slice two pieces off the sides of each peach. Remove the remaining pulp from the peaches and chop into a small dice. Add the chopped peaches to the batter. Slice the peach slices into thin, long slices. You will use these slices to decorate the top of the cake. I placed about five of the long peach slices parallel to each other (and close together) on the top of the cake.
- Pour your batter into your prepared pans. Top the batter with slices of the peaches.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake has risen and the top of the cake is golden brown. Test the cake's doneness with a toothpick or wooden skewer. I found that I needed to give my cake extra time in my oven to get it properly done. Ovens vary a lot, so watch your cake carefully as it is baking. When your cake is done, the toothpick should come out clean and the top of the cake should feel firm and bouncy.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for a few minutes. Remove the cake from the pan using the long sides of parchment that you draped over the sides of your loaf pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This is great served with slices of fresh fruits like additional peaches or nectarines and/or berries. A dollop of mascarpone on served on top of the cake is also wonderful.
This recipe for Vanilla Cake With Peaches and Fennel Seeds is adapted from one that appears in the Honey and Company cookbook Golden. The book is available here.
