The Begrudging Baker: Peach Melba Squares

Every time I attend a bake sale, or any other event where multiple people have brought bakes goods, I look around for the cake that I wish I had baked.

Sometimes, if I'm lucky, it's the one I did bake. But this is rare and far more often I creep away with a slice of someone else's cake and try to work out how they made it.

We recently had a bake sale at work, to raise money for charity. I bought what turned out to be a peach melba square, a traybake with the taste and moist texture of frangipane and was studded with peach slices and raspberries oozing juice into the sponge.

Luckily, this time I didn't have to guess the recipe, because one of the editors, whose wife made the bake in question, directed me to the recipe.

It was really easy to make and cuts into about 15 pieces easily. What's not to like?

You will need:

250g unsalted butter

300g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

200g self-raising flour

50g ground almonds

1 tin of peach slices in juice, drained

100g raspberries

handful flaked almonds

1 tbsp icing sugar

pinch of salt

small roasting tin, about 30x20cm, greased and lined with baking parchment

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Cube the butter and put it in a saucepan over a low heat to melt.

2. Once melted, let the butter cool for five minutes and then add the sugar, vanilla and eggs and stir well to combine. Fold in the flour, salt and almonds and stir until smooth.

3. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and lay the peach slices on top, evenly spaced. Scatter over the raspberries and flaked almonds - do not be tempted to press the fruit into the mixture slightly as it rises when baked and may cover the fruit.