Plum Almond Cake
A simple cake with a delightful combination of fruit-and-nut tastes and textures that are at once a touch pudding-like and yet with a perfect crumb. Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar [add a ¼ cup more if your plums are tart]
- 1 cup almonds
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or brandy
- 3 large plums—halved, pitted and cut into wedges (16 per plum)
- Crème fraîche to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-inch pan with parchment; butter and flour the parchment.
- Mix the all-purpose flour with the baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Pulse the almonds in the jar of a spice grinder until they become a powder, and then continue pulsing for a minute or so longer until the almond oils start to release slightly and the mixture becomes paste-like.
- In a large bowl, or using a stand mixer, beat the sugar with the ground almond paste.
- Add the butter, beating until fluffy.
- Add the eggs one by one, beating well each time.
- Add in the vanilla or brandy.
- Gently fold in the flour mixture.
- Pour the batter into the parchment-lined prepared pan. Arrange the plums over the top of the batter in a spiral.
- Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until the cake top is well-browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for a few minutes. Then run a knife around the edge, and invert the cake onto a plate—peel off the parchment—and then invert it again onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with crème fraîche.