It's plum season here so I thought it was about time to make a plum cake, but this time I decided to try a new recipe. I'd read lots of rave reviews for Nigel Slater's plum and walnut cake, so I thought I'd try it for myself. Firstly I had to buy some plums. Secondly I had to find another copy of the recipe online because the quantity of baking powder was missing from the Guardian's online version (1 1/2 teaspoons by the way). Thirdly, I had to increase the quantity of the cake batter to fit the only spring form tin I had which was 23 cm.
Now you know me well enough by now to know I did adapt the recipe slightly. Plums go so well with cinnamon it felt churlish not to add some to the mix, so I did.
Toasted walnuts taste better than the raw version, so I toasted the nuts before adding them to the mix.
Plums can be quite tart, so I sugared the plums before covering the batter.
When I turned the cake out nearly all the plums had sunk to the bottom (as warned) so I decided to serve the cake upside down because I thought it looked much prettier that way.
Here's my version of Nigel Slater's Plum and Walnut Cake
Moist Plum Cake (makes a 23 cm cake) printable recipe
Ingredients
200 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
200 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
100 grams plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
135 grams almond meal
65 grams toasted walnuts
10 - 12 small plums, ripe but still firm
1 - 2 tablespoons extra sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Lightly grease and flour a 23cm spring form cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Pit the plums and cut into quarters. Sprinkle plums with the extra 1 - 2 tablespoons sugar and set aside.
Finely chop the toasted walnuts and reserve. Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula in between additions. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Fold into the butter mixture. Fold in the almond meal and the chopped walnuts.
Spoon the batter into the tin. Place the quartered plums in concentric circles, without overlapping, on top of the batter. (The plums will sink to the bottom of the tin whilst baking.) Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack.
Soon after the cake came out of the oven we shared the first slice. The plums were tart and the cake mixture moist and fragrant. Definitely a winner and I can tell I'll be making it again in various guises.
See you all again on Wednesday.
Until then,
Jillian
