almond crumble cake with nectarines and blackberries

almond crumble cake with nectarines and blackberries

17 Feb 2025

Stone fruit are at their best at the moment, so I'm taking every opportunity to bake with them while they're in season. I recently took out a copy of Julia Busuttil Nishimura's Good Cooking Everyday from my local library and bookmarked most of the cake recipes.

I was going to make an almond crumble cake with peaches and blackberries as per the recipe, but my peaches were a bit too firm. I had 2 almost too ripe necatrines in the fruit bowl so used them instead. I really needed a third nectarine to properly cover the cake batter so I threw in a few more blackberries than the original recipe suggested.

The cake came out of the oven smelling so delicious but I did wait until it was cool before tucking into my slice. It was amazing and when I shared the rest of the cake with my enighbours, they expressed the same opinion.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm square or round cake. Just double the quantities to make a 30cm x 20cm cake. The cook time will stay the same. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Almond crumble cake with nectarine & blackberry

Almond crumble 
30g flaked almonds 
30g plain flour
25g caster sugar 
20g almond meal
pinch of sea salt 
30g cold unsalted butter, cubed

 
Fruit filling 
3 yellow nectarines or 2 peaches 
10 g caster sugar 
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon plain flour
75g blackberries, halved

 

Cake 
100g unsalted butter, softened
75g caster sugar 
100g brown sugar 
½ tsp vanilla extract 
2 eggs 
50g almond meal 
100g self-raising flour 
40 ml full-cream milk
pinch of sea salt 
pure icing sugar, to dust 

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional. Grease and line a 17 x 17 cm square or round baking tin with baking paper. 

Crumble
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is damp and holds together in a crumbly manner. Set aside. 

Fruit filling
Halve the nectarines, remove the seeds and cut into wedges. If using peaches, make a cross in the base of each peach, blanch in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to an ice bath. Peel off the skin and discard before halving the fruit and cutting into wedges. Place the fruit in a bowl with the caster sugar, cinnamon and flour. Toss to coat and set aside.

Cake
Cream the butter, sugars and vanilla extract in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on a medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes or until pale and very fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl with a spatula as needed. Reduce the speed to low and add the almond meal, flour, and salt in thirds, alternating with the milk and mix until just combined. 

Spoon the batter into the tin and smooth the surface with the spatula. Arrange the fruit evenly on the batter, then top with the blackberries. Scatter on the almond crumble and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and springs back when touched. 

Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve. 

It was delicious the first day of eating and equally as delicious 3 or 4 days later. 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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coconut meringue brittle hearts

coconut meringue brittle hearts

10 Feb 2025

I'm not one to celebrate Valentine's Day but when I saw Ottolenghi advertising coconut meringue brittle for Valentine's Day, I was intrigued. I realised there was a recipe for the brittle in Sweet and with a few tweaks I'd be able to make the brittle at home. 

I made half a batch, then wondered if I should fashion the brittle into hearts for Valentine's Day? I found a heart shaped cookie cutter and traced out 6 hearts onto the baking paper. Fashioning the hearts was a bit of a fiddle but then again Valentine's Day only comes around once a year. 

Ottolenghi describes the brittle as 'somewhere between a meringue and an old-fashioned coconut macaroon: as sweet as you'd want and expect, but with more of a crunch. They're informal, rustic and exceptionally moreish' and I have to agree. Although I coated the hearts with white chocolate, I think a dark chocolate coating would be just as delicious. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 hearts. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Coconut Meringue Brittle Hearts

75g slivered almonds + additional 20g for topping
100g icing sugar
50g desiccated coconut
75g egg whites (from 2 large eggs)
½ tsp salt
75g icing sugar
¼ tsp vanilla extract

White chocolate coating 
120g white chocolate, roughly chopped Into I cm pieces
25g freeze-dried raspberries, roughly torn into pieces
20g toasted slivered almonds pieces
Sumac for sprinkling

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional. Spread the slivered almonds out on a baking tray and roast for about 5 minutes until the nuts are starting to turn light brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Reserve 20g for the topping before roughly chopping the rest of the almonds. Keep the oven turned on.

Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl, add the coconut and the chopped almonds and set aside until ready to use. Line two large baking trays with baking paper and trace 6 hearts onto each piece of paper using a heart shaped cookie cutter. Set aside.

To make the meringue, place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Beat on a medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the second portion of icing sugar in 1 go, continuing to whisk for about 5 minutes until the mixture is thick and glossy and stiff peaks form. Stir through the vanilla extract, then remove the bowl from the mixer. Use a large rubber spatula to gently but thoroughly fold in the icing sugar mixture.

Spoon twelve large spoonfuls of the mixture on to the parchment-lined trays and using a small spatula, roughly spread them out to form heart shapes about 1-1.5cm thick. If you can't be bothered making hearts, then just free form it. Don’t try for uniform shapes or sizes here, rustic is good. Place the trays in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 140°C, conventional. Bake for 1 hour, until the meringues are dry throughout but have not taken on too much colour. Turn off the oven but leave the meringues inside for about 30 minutes, propping the door open with a wooden spoon, to continue to cool and dry out. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

To coat the meringues
Place the chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl is not touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted, then use a small metal spatula to spread the chocolate all over the base (flat side) of the meringues. Sprinkle some of the raspberries, the slivered almonds and touch of sumac on top of the chocolate after it's been brushed over the meringues. Set aside for about 1 hour until the chocolate has set, then pile high on a plate and serve.

Store in an airtight container with a layer of greaseproof paper in between the layers.

Trying to make chocolate coated hearts when the kitchen temperature was about 30°C was a bit of a challenge but nothing than 10 minutes in the fridge couldn't solve.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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plum tosca cake

plum tosca cake

1 Feb 2025

Every year when plums are in season, I make plum cake. My dear friend Liane, who passed away 2 years ago, loved plum cake so I now make a plum cake every year in her honour. Sometimes it's my usual recipe and sometimes I'll try another recipe. 

This year while searching for recipes I came across a recipe for a Plum Tosca Cake by Rachel Khoo. It looked enticing so I decided to make a version with my own plum cake recipe as the base topped with the almond toffee mixture.

My cake almost overflowed in the tin while it baked, so I made a second cake which I baked in an 8 inch tin. I needed more plums and more topping, but that's not a bad thing. I usually make my cake batter quite soft so the plums sink to the bottom during the bake but it was clear from the photos the plums stayed on the surface so I reduced the liquid in my recipe accordingly. Rachel also suggests using apricots or cherries or other soft fruit to top the cake, so next time I make a tosca cake I might use blackberries. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 20cm cake although the photographs are of the 17cm cake I made. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Plum Tosca Cake inspired by a Rachel Khoo recipe.

Ingredients
8-9 plums, halved and stoned then quartered and topped with 1 tbs sugar

100g caster sugar

the grated zest of 1 lemon
100g room temperature unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 1/4  tsp baking powder
a pinch of fine sea salt
150g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk or yoghurt

Topping
50g butter
50g caster sugar
100g flaked almonds
3 tsp rum (optional)
2 tbs plain flour
45 mls cream
a pinch of sea salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

Half the plums, then remove the stones. You can use plum halves but I used plum quarters so I could squeeze in more plums. Top the cut side of the plums with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and set to one side.

For the cake, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and lemon rind until the sugar is fragrant. Add the butter and mix until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add one egg at a time, beating to incorporate.

Sift the baking powder, salt and flour into a separate bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, along with the vanilla extract and the milk. You should have a thick soft batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin. Level the mixture with a palette knife, then lay the plum quarters on top of the cake. If you're using plum halves, place them skin side down. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake is still slightly wobbly in the middle. While the cake is baking, make the cake topping by first melting the butter. Once melted, take off the heat and mix with all the other ingredients until combined.

Take the cake out of the oven and turn the oven up to 200°C conventional. Spread the topping evenly over the cake and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and crisp. Immediately loosen the cake with a knife when it comes out of the oven to prevent the topping from welding itself to the tin. Cool for 10-20 minutes before unmoulding from the tin then let the cake completely cool on a wire rack before serving. 

The cake will keep for a few days in an airtight container but is best served the day it's baked as the topping will still be crisp. Even with a soft topping, the cake is still very good a few days later. 

I recently went to Melbourne for a family wedding and as I was staying in St Kilda, I visited the Monarch Cake Shop where I bought a slice of their famous plum cake. I carefully transported the cake back to my accommodation where I enjoyed my slice with a nice cup of tea.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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