Raspberry & Nectarine Slice

This is my favourite summer fruit baked item. I love that it's easily adaptable and that I almost always have the ingredients on hand.  It's currently over 30 degrees here and I really should not have turned the oven on, but my 3 year old wanted to bake and I couldn't resist!

This is a Bill Granger Recipe. His recipe uses peaches, but I mostly use nectarines as usually have them at home from friends and family's gardens.  I've made it before with the addition of coconut to the second half of the process and that's really yummy too. If you like a crunch, add a sprinkling of demerara sugar to the top of the slice just before baking.  I also regularly half the recipe when just making it for our family so we don't have too much!!! In the photos below I had halved the recipe and just used a loaf tin instead of a larger pan.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups plain flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder, plus 1/2 teaspoon extra for the second stage of the mixture
125g butter, chilled and diced
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup golden castor sugar (or regular castor sugar)
2-3 ripe nectarines, peeled and sliced into slim wedges
3/4 cup raspberries
2 teaspoons vanilla paste (or natural vanilla extract)
1 egg, lightly beaten
185ml milk

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius
• Grease and line the base of a 20×30cm baking tray
• Put the flour and the 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder (sift if you like!) into a large bowl and then rub in the butter gently with your fingertips
• Stir in both the sugars
• Press half the mixture over the base of the lined tin
• Lay the nectarines and raspberries over the top

• Add the vanilla extract, extra baking powder, egg and milk to the rest of the base mixture and stir well - don’t worry about a few lumps
• Pour evenly over the nectarine and raspberries and bake for 1 hour(If making a half batch, bake for approximately 40 minutes)
• Allow to cool partially in the tray and then cut into squares to serve 

Happy hot weather baking!!! 

Love Amy xoxo