Summer Fruit Cake

Ingredients
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, room temperature (add 1/4 tsp salt if you use unsalted butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
spice of choice - e.g. ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon zest
fruit for topping - e.g. berries, plums, apples

Directions

Cream the soft butter into the sugar. Add the eggs, mix well. Add flour, baking powder, mix thoroughly. It will be a pretty thick. Dollop it into a round cake pan lined with parchment (mine's 9 inches, makes for a thin-ish cake around 2 inches high). Spread it out evenly but it doesn't need to push into the edges or be perfectly flat - it will spread and puff during baking.

Dust with your spice of choice. I like a little ground ginger for warmth and mystery, personally; it goes great with blueberries, and with plums. Top with your fruit of choice in a pleasing arrangement. This cake can take a lot of fruit. I've made this with blueberries mixed with chopped rhubarb, delicious. Black plums cut into eights and arranged in a fan, also delicious. Would likely work with frozen raspberries, pears, figs, or peaches. If your fruit is on the sour side, you may want to dust the top with extra sugar. I usually don't because I like the tart pockets of cooked fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 min. The batter will rise up and gorgeously enfold the fruit as it bakes. The middle has a tendency to finish baking in the last 5 minutes, so be sure the middle is fully set before you set it out to cool. Best to take it out of the pan when still warm.

The cake is substantial but not heavy and has a simplicity that really sets off fresh summer fruit. It almost has a cornmeal-like texture, despite having no cornmeal in it at all.