The peaches have been pretty good around our area lately, so I wanted to do something with them for tea.

The idea for this cakelet came when I looked through Paula Deen’s The Lady & Sons Just Desserts cookbook – her “Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake” sounded like a good base cake that might work with numerous variations. I also made only half a recipe vs. what’s in the book, since I wasn’t making a full three-layer cake. And it still made ~40 of these smaller cakelets, which is plenty even if you’re having a few friends over for tea!

And it’s a great, basic white cake, very moist, so make sure you bake it until it’s turning golden and fully baked through.

Couple notes about the bakeware: I used a silicone bakeware form that’s “ingot”-shaped, 1.8 x 1.1 x 0.75-inches in size. For piping the whipped cream, I used a medium-sized “V-shaped” piping tip like one of these.

I love these silicon bakeware forms that have indentations for fruit or sauces – it lets you add another flavor or texture to your tea cake. When I have a little too much batter in one of the forms, I just trim off the edges after they’ve cooled.

I’m big on having ingredients prepared ahead of time, as well as assembly lines to make assembly efficient. This shows you the ingredients included in this cakelet, and how it starts with the peach sauce, then the whipped cream, and peach and hazelnut krokant topping I used. The krokant is completely optional – I just happened to have some left over from another bake, and it added a nice little crunch, so I went with it!

And that’s basically it – find a nice serving plate and tea set and enjoy!

These give you that great combination of flavors in every bite – though with this sized cakelet, it takes only about two bites to finish. So if you’re like me, you’ll probably want more than one!

Peaches 'n Cream Cakelets

  • Servings: ca. 40 mini cakelets (1.8x1.1-inch ingots)
  • Difficulty: intermediate
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Ingredients

    Cake

  • 1/2 (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 + 1/2 c. sifted self-rising flour
  • 1/2 c. milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)

    • Brown Sugar Peach Sauce

  • Dice up 4 large, ripe peaches
  • 3 Tbsp. butter (
  • 1/4 c. light brown sugar (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (more or less to taste)

    • Mascarpone Whipped Cream

  • 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
  • 3 oz. mascarpone, room temperature
  • 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
  • Dash vanilla

Directions

To make the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350° F, and prepare your silicone bakeware form with baking spray.

Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and cream for 6-8 minutes (this helps the sugar fully dissolve and makes for a creamier batter). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Alternate the flour and milk next and mix thoroughly as you add, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the vanilla at the end and beat until just mixed.

Fill the silicon bakeware form until at least three-quarters full (this should bake up until just coming to the top of the forms). Put the bakeware form on a small jelly roll sheet pan and knock out the air a couple of times by dropping it on the counter. Bake for 20-25 minutes (check it on the lower end to make sure it’s not overbaking), until it starts turning golden brown. Cool in pans at least 10 minutes, then invert the cakes out of the form onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before assembling the rest of the cakelets.

To make the Brown Sugar Peach Sauce: Peel all but about 1/2 a peach and chop up the peaches into small cubes – this will go into the saucepan to make the sauce. With the other 1/2 a peach, chop up into small cubes that can be sprinkled on top of each of the cakelets; set aside until assembling at the end.

Melt the butter and brown sugar together and stir until the brown sugar is dissolved. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and chopped peach cubes and let it cook on the stove until it starts simmering and the peaches start breaking down and it starts to thicken, but you still have lumps of peach. Set aside to cool before assembling the cakelets.

To make the Mascarpone Whipped Cream: In a medium bowl, using a stand or hand mixture, beat the whipping cream until it comes to soft peaks. Add the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla and beat until it forms stiff peaks. Use a piping bag with a medium v-shaped piping tip so you can make the wavy shape over the rectangle ingot-shaped cakelets.

To assemble the cakelets: Fill the indentation on the top of the ingot-shaped cakelet with a good dollop of the peach sauce, making it somewhat even across the top. Pipe a wavy line of whipped cream across the top, and top with several small peach cubes to finish. Optional: Feel free to sprinkle any other topping you like (I had some hazelnut “Krokant” leftover from another bake that I sprinkled on top for a little crunch).

Best served fresh, or refrigerate for up to a few days.

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