FRESH (ALMOST ALL) FRUIT COFFEE CAKE!! EASY AND WONDERFUL RECIPE

I was born in the North West of England in a cotton town (chosen for weaving and spinning as the water is soft), called Chorley, in  Lancashire, and, when we had "pudding" at home, (dessert) it was steamed or baked and served with hot piping custard (milk, sugar, vanilla and cornstarch).
Because of this I really cannot stand dry cakes/puddings/cookies.
These desserts are now called nursery or comfort dishes, I prefer to call them Delicious Puddings.

This recipe, I have just reworked this weekend (although it began in Switzerland over 300yrs ago as an apple cake).
  Because of the absolutely horrendous heatwaves we have been having in Los Angeles,  a lot of fresh fruit has been ripening too fast for me to use, so I have added 3 times the fruit in the recipe, cut the sugar and also used wholewheat flour.
The result is a wonderful, dense and tasty cake.
Best served the day after it's made and if your day time temps are above 75F then do keep it refrigerated.

Also let's work on bringing back Coffee Mornings..far more civilized than drinking coffee in paper cups.
This is a perfect recipe for using any mix of over ripe fruit (apples, bananas, mamey fruit, ripe avocado can be used, pears, peaches, plums, & etc. and you may also use cooked and cooled mashed yams or carrots)

Very Ripe Mamey Fruit

They are scooped out like avocado

My chunky apple sauce also inc. papaya and peach

makes 8-10 slices


 well grease a 13 x 9 x 2inch oven  proof dish

Preheat oven 350F middle shelf

1 cup unsalted butter or vegetable shortening
2 cups packed brown sugar ( if using white sugar then reduce the amount to 1 1/4 cups)
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups mashed very ripe fruit and apple sauce
1 cup sliced/chopped ripe fruit for topping
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla/almond extract
1/2 tsp sea salt (if using reg salt reduce amount to 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon (plus 2 tsp optional  ground cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamon)
2 tbsp  brown sugar for sprinkling on surface



method:

Cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy then beat in the eggs one at a time.

Add the mashed fruit and beat to combine.
Add the vanilla extract and continue mixing as you add the flours and baking soda & baking powder, salt.
Mix well &  fold in the spices.

Pour into the greased pan,  (the batter will be soft and my curdle when the eggs are added but it will bake well) smooth the surface and top with sliced/chopped ripe fruit and the 2 tbsp sugar (you may add extra ground cinnamon if you like) and place on a lined cookie sheet and bake 45 mins at 350F and 20-30 mins at 300f or until top is firm to touch, it may seem a bit soft but will firm up as it cools.
It will rise when baking and deflate somewhat as it cools down, which makes it more moist and delicious
The top will be golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool in pan on wire rack.
Chill or cool overnight and cut and serve the next day..this is great with just a  hot cup of coffee/tea or with custard or pouring cream.

I CAN NEVER MAKE ENOUGH OF THESE CAKES FOR MY AMERICAN CLIENTS.

it also contains lots of vitamins and minerals from the fresh fruit/vegetables and is high fiber, so it is a HEALTHY INDULGENCE.

Variation: you may add any chopped nuts to the batter, but really why bother..this is perfection without.