Makes 8 little loaf cakes or a large 1kg (2lb) loaf

Ingredients
1 tsp fennel seeds
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
Seeds of ½ vanilla pod
Zest of 1 lemon, zest of 1 orange
225g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
A pinch of table salt
3 eggs
120g mascarpone cheese
160g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 peaches

Method

● Preheat the oven to 190°C. Butter eight small loaf tins and line each with a sheet of baking parchment to cover the base and sides, allowing a little overhang at the sides. Don’t worry about lining the ends too, just make sure they’re greased.

● Lightly toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, then allow to cool before crushing.

● I use an electric mixer to make the batter, but if you don’t have one, you can make it by hand. Beat the butter, vanilla seeds, zests, fennel seeds, sugar and salt together until just combined in a ball. Don’t overbeat.

● Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg in well, so the batter is completely smooth before the next goes in.

● Add the mascarpone, flour and baking powder in one go and mix at full speed for a few seconds to make sure everything is well combined.

● Slice two ‘cheeks’ off each peach (one from either side of the stone), cutting as close to the stone as possible. Chop the remaining fruit into small dice and mix into the cake batter. Cut the peach cheeks into long, thin slices. Divide the batter between the lined tins. Top each cake with four or five peach slices spread out like a small fan and sprinkle with the additional sugar.

● Bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and a lovely golden colour. It is a little tricky to tell when a cake containing fresh fruit is fully baked, but the surface should feel nice and bouncy.

● These are great warm and keep well at room temperature for 24 hours, but after that they start to deteriorate, so be sure to gobble them up quickly.