Sunday 10 February 2013

A Rich Winter Blueberry, Peach or Plum and Almond Cake

Dear Readers,

It amazes me, but according to 'blogger stats' still you read every day in spite of my inability to post more than very sporadically. I do hope this means that the quality of my recipes ensures longevity in the blogging world. Anyway, 'tis an extraordinarily miserable day here in north west London, so what could be better than to fill the flat with the aromas of baking and the joy of cake.


You will need: 
2 x free range organic eggs
175g self raising flour
100g ground almonds
175g unsalted organic butter
175g golden caster sugar
1 x teaspoon orange zest
A few drops vanilla extract
100g blueberries
A punnet of plums or peaches 

Oven pre-heated to 170. 

You can replace the blueberries with raspberries or any other berry and you could use nectarines or a mixture of the stone-fruit in the recipe as you wish. I know these fruits aren't in season but sometimes you end up with a punnet of plums / a handful of nectarines that were an impulse purchase that never seem to ripen and this cake suits them perfectly. You can also use up out of date / past their best berries in this delicious, moist and almost crumbly cake. 


Line the base of a circular cake tin and butter the edges. Then mix the almonds and self raising flour together and put to one side. 
Cream the butter in the bowl and then cream together with the golden caster sugar until it is light and fluffy. I do everything by hand so this is quite exhausting as golden caster sugar is less refined and so takes more beating. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and beat into the mixture about a quarter at a time adding a tablespoon of flour if there are signs of the mixture curdling. 


Fold in the flour and almond mixture in thirds - the base is quite heavy so this takes some time. Be sure to fold in evenly across the butter and sugar mix. Grate the orange zest into the bowl and stir in along with a few drops of vanilla extract. Mix the fruits in evenly. This can be quite tricky as the mixture will be rather stiff by now. 


Scrape into your tin, smooth the surface down with a palette knife and bake for about an hour - you will need to keep testing as cooking times vary depending on the water content of the fruit. 


When ready, the cake should be golden brown on top and speckled with rich jewels from the fruit. You can eat this cake warm as more of a winter pudding with lashings of thick cream or vanilla ice cream, or alternatively sprinkle the top with a little more caster sugar, leave to cool and then serve with a proper cup of Yorkshire tea in the afternoon.  If making in the summer, I go for raspberries and blueberries leaving the stone fruits out of the picture altogether and smother the top in whipped cream with icing sugar and vanilla running through it and then lob loads more berries on top for a truly delicious summer spectacle. 

 YUM.
Future tea time treats coming soon.
Love til then, Silver Whimsy x


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