I'm a real peach fan. I think it's certainly one of my very favourite fruits. They're just so plump, sweet, and messy. There's no easy way to eat them without the juices running everywhere, but part of the fun is catching a stray drop on your chin or hands and licking it.
I wanted to capture this in a summer cake, this sweet stickiness paired with the crumb that only a polenta cake gives, soaking up the syrup and yet still falling gently apart by the forkful. Using olive oil rather than butter makes it less rich, too, allowing the peach flavour to shine as brightly as the slices arranged on top.
I follow this recipe, but also pour 100ml of peach tea syrup reduction on when it's just come out of the oven, to make the sponge really moist on top. Monin do a really good one and if you boil it gently for a while, it thickens down nicely.
Serve with white tea and you've got yourself so sweet a summer afternoon.
