beatbreaksiftfoldscrapebakeremoveEAT!

The time of year is arriving when there's a glut of plums in our garden. These little purple ones are first, then the greengages and then the Victorias. By that time we've all got tummy ache from eating them and are hoping the wasps will finish them off before we have to. We give loads away, make jam, stew them, turn them into chutney and sometimes I make a cake. This lovely recipe is from Nigel Slater and I made it yesterday with eggs from our very own hens. What a lovely 'Country Living' feeling that was!!

Moist fresh plum cake


Ingredients

150g butter
150g unrefined golden caster sugar
3 large eggs (I had to use 4 as my girls haven't got the hang of 'large eggs' yet!)
75g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
100g ground almonds
16 plums, stoned and quartered

Method

1. Set the oven at 180C/355F/Gas 4. Line the base of a square 20cm cake tin, about 6cm deep, with a piece of baking parchment.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Whilst this is happening, halve the plums, remove the stones and cut each half in two.
3. Break the eggs, beat them lightly with a fork, then add them bit by bit to the butter and sugar.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold them gently into the mixture.
5. Fold in the ground almonds.
6. Scrape the mixture into the lined cake tin. Place the quartered plums on the cake mixture.
7. Bake for forty to forty-five minutes, then test for doneness with a skewer. If it comes out clean, without any wet cake mixture sticking to it, then the cake is ready.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for fifteen minutes before turning out.

beatbreaksiftfoldscrapebakeremoveEAT!