Vanilla Loaf Cake with Fresh Summer Fruit

     I've been scrambling; trying to do as much as possible with the fresh fruits and vegetables of summer 2010 before it's over.  I feel cheated in a way.  I feel like I missed out on enjoying produce that I wait an entire year for.  Unfortunately, I just shut down during the kitchen renovation.  I just couldn't deal with a make-shift kitchen in the corner of a dingy, basement laundry room.  But that's history now.  I won't go there anymore.  I'm too busy trying to make up for lost time.  We just hosted our second dinner of the holiday weekend with one to go.  Tonight's meal consisted of (what else) tomatoes.  No big surprise there.  And I made what we eat non-stop during tomato season... a Tomato Tart.  We followed that with a big pot of Corn and Bacon Chowder, and we ended the meal with a slice of Vanilla Loaf Cake, topped with fresh peaches and raspberries and a scoop of freshly whipped cream.
    

     The Vanilla Loaf Cake is delicious with fresh summer fruits and whipped, heavy cream.  But my favorite way to eat it?... In the morning with my coffee, plain and simple.
               
                                                It's great to be back !

                                         Vanilla Loaf Cake

• 1 cup chilled heavy cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
1.  Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2.  Beat the heavy cream in a chilled bowl until stiff.  Beat the eggs and vanilla together until light and fluffy; fold into the stiffly beaten cream.  Mix the remaining ingredients together.  Slowly sift and fold the dry ingredients into the egg and cream mixture, gently but making sure to combine thoroughly.
3.  Fill a greased 9-cup loaf pan with the batter (I like to line mine lengthwise with a long strip of wax paper that extends beyond the edges of the pan). Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 60 minutes.  Cool cake in pan 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

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