I love summer. Not only for the beach weather and holiday time, but the New Zealand produce it brings. In winter, the only stone fruit or berries available are either frozen or eye-wateringly expensive and unripe imports, so the arrival of fresh apricots, nectarines, peaches, and strawberries on the shelves is always celebrated. This cake is one of my favourite summer cakes: a simple vanilla batter bursting with juicy sweet apricots, blueberries, and raspberries – the focus is definitely on the fruit. I must admit that I did use frozen berries in this instance however… with raspberries costing $7 a punnet (100g), I would rather eat them fresh than bake them!

The end of summer always heralds the return of school and homework, the arrival of cooler temperatures and greyer days, and the end of this particular cake. It always seems far away at the time of making it, but I now have just two weeks left of my three month summer before I head back to Melbourne – something I both can’t wait for and want to be slightly further away! I will be making the most of my time in Auckland over the next two weeks, trying to cook as much as possible to get me through the kitchen-deprivation of college and give myself material to continue posting here (although a warning to friends with houses – I may invade!).

The perfect dessert to bring along to your next barbecue, this summer fruit cake takes less than half an hour to whip up and is always enjoyed. I tend to arrange the two layers of fruit in concentric circles, dotting the berries wherever they fit, but it is completely up to you how you decorate! Any stonefruit or berry combination you have on hand could easily be used. It is adapted from Julie Le Clerc’s Favourite Cakes cookbook.

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