Baking Addiction 3: Peach tray bake with cheesecake ripple

I baked this cake for Easter lunch at church. 

My friend was pestering me for the name of the cake, but I can only vaguely remember it sounded something like cream cheese with cake in the recipe. So in the end I told her its "CREAM CHEESE CAKE lah!" :)  I think because the texture of the cake was rather soft and a bit wet, she tried to figure out whether its a  pudding or a cake from the name itself. 

So now let me reveal its actual name, by the recipe owner. "Plum tray bake with cheesecake ripple", except that I didnt use Plum/ berries, I used canned peach, which is easy to get from any stores and much more economical.  

Originally this is how it looks with red berries. 

Red berries tray bake with cheesecake ripple

And this is my version:

Peach tray bake with cheese cake ripple

For those who loves cheese, this cake will quench your cheese thirst immediately, because its super creamy and cheesy! I tasted kinda sweet due to the sweetened peach. But I think the cream cheese taste basically  goes well with any type of fruits. 

It makes me super happy that one of my friend loved it and asked for extra serving to bring back home. Although I had only started to bake less than a year ago (after my kitchen was fully renovated), but I absolutely understand that why many felt that cooking / baking for others is a pleasant and enjoyable chore rather than burden. 

Some may enjoy the process itself, but definitely not me. There were so many dishes to wash, so many utensil scatters everywhere, so many ingredients to measure, and painstaking amount of details to follow in recipe. Talking about measurement, Gosh how i HATE it! Some of the recipes use grams, some use cups, then there is ounce, tablespoon, teaspoon etc. I need to harmonize all the measurement even before baking itself. Prior to this, I used to baffle at how Americans like to use "cup" to measure, how do they know what is the size of the cup I use? If the size of my cup is not the same as the recipe writer's cup , then it wouldn't be accurate at all. And then one day while I was shopping around in the baking supply store, I saw these colorful measuring cups and spoons of different sizes tied together with a string. It was only then that I realized that the cup used for measuring is not the cup which is used for drinking. * paiseh *

Anyway, what I meant to say is that my enjoyment of baking came from other's enjoyment of eating the stuff which I've baked. When someone takes a bite out of the cake I poured my heart into and smiles in satisfaction, it makes me feel like gold. In fact, whenever Peter complements the food which I've cooked, it makes me light and fluffy inside. I believe that the love of food is in everyone, and the fact that my food makes people happy, makes me happy too. 

Now, here comes the recipe:

Cheesecake ripple:
200g cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
3 tablespoons caster sugar

Cake:
3 eggs
175g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
I can of sweetened peach

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter an 8inch shallow baking pan, line with baking parchment 
• In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and caster sugar and beat until smooth. Set aside. 
• Place the eggs, butter, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla in a separate bowl. Beat for about 2 minutes until pale and creamy. 
• Spread half of the cake batter mixture onto the base of the prepared pan, then dollop half of the cream cheese mixture over it, spreading an uneven swirl through the base mixture. Scatter with half of the peach. Spoon the remaining cake batter on top and dot with the rest of the cream cheese. 
• Bake for about 45 minutes until risen and just firm to touch – when cooked, the surface of this tray bake should feel just firm to the touch, but bear in mind that it will firm-up slightly as it cools; if over baked, it will lose its moist texture. 
• Scatter with the remaining peach on top of the cake and leave to cool in the pan before refrigeration. Refrigeration is important as it makes the cake moister and firmer. It will taste dry if you immediately eat after bake