There are some dishes we make here at the farm that are a bit of a mystery before we try them. We ask ourselves if we chose the right recipe, bought the right ingredients, cooked them properly with optimal equipment, plated them well, etc. The only way to really know how we did is to make the dish, take a look at it and taste it. But this is NOT one of those dishes. From the moment you start making a Lazy Daisy cake with summer fruit you know its gonna be good, real good….like staring at the oven while bakes good. From batter to oven to plate this cake just screams “I taste good, serve me with some ice cream!” (It does, we heard it from the oven….we swear).

If looking and tasting great wasn’t enough, the Summer Fruit Lazy Daisy has a few other charms, it is as easy as cake making gets and it will work with almost any summer fruit. If you are like us, between growing fruit and buying it at the farmers market we tend to be up to our armpits have a “surplus” at times. And while we enjoy fruit out of hand and making jam, there is something about a big pancake mixed with peaches and berries and baked in the oven that sounds pretty good (and that’s basically what a Lazy Daisy is). Top it with ice cream and you are ready for a big smile and a nap.

As we noted, and the name suggests, making a Lazy Daisy isn’t hard and is similar to making pancake batter. Heat your oven, grease a pan, melt some butter, mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and melted butter, pour into a pan, add in some fruit and bake. Cool, sprinkle on some powdered sugar (fend off your eager family and friends) and then serve. It really is that easy.

The only hard decision is your choice of fruit and presentation. We used our peaches, strawberries and blueberries and then added some blackberries from the farmers market (our blackberries got fried in the heat wave, sigh). A good balance of tart and sweet. You can use any combination of berries and stone fruits, but we suggest you taste them and adjust the sugar to match the sweetness of the fruit. As for presentation, you can choose a pretty design, or just mix everything together. We chose the latter…it is a “Lazy” Daisy, after all.

Summer Fruit Lazy Daisy:

(Adapted, somewhat, from King Arthur Flour)

Notes Before You Start:

• Nada. Big oven pancake with summer fruit. ‘Nuff said.

What You Get: A delicious and very easy summer cake. A perfect dessert for a summer get together.

What You Need: No special equipment required.

How Long? About and hour and 20 minutes, with about 15 minutes of active time. Anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(Serves about 8 slices of cake, 6 if you are greedy)

Cake:

• 1/4 cup (2 oz.) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (4 1/2 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 to 1 cup sugar (adjust based on sweetness of fruit)
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (6 oz.) whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (optional)
• Mint sprigs (optional)

Fruit:

• 1 quart summer fruit (peaches, nectarines, cherries and/or berries all work)
• 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz.) sugar (adjust based on sweetness of fruit)

Assemble:

• Grease a 9 inch round baking pan. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat the egg and sugar until thick and light yellow. Stir in the flour mixture, then the milk, vanilla and melted butter. When combined, pour the batter into the greased pan.
• Combine the fruit and sugar in a large bowl, gently fold to coat the fruit with sugar. Then add the fruit to the pan and mix in, or arrange to your liking.
• Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until the cake sets and pulls away from the side of the pan. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes. Sift on some powdered sugar, if you like. Serve with ice cream and a sprig of mint.

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