PLUM AND ALMOND CAKE

I spotted a recipe in a lovey blog called "Katie Cakes" for a raspberry and almond cake and offered to take it as a dessert when invited out to lunch at a friend's house.  The host was delighted but then I discovered that I didn’t have the frozen raspberries in the freezer that I could have sworn were there!  Drat!

So I used some of my frozen cinnamon roasted plums instead!  Almond goes well with plums so I omitted the vanilla and replaced it with almond extract.

The mixture was fairly stiff which meant the fruit didn't sink to the bottom of the cake and stayed exactly where I wanted it - as a layer in the middle.  It was a huge cake and rose almost to the top of the tin.  

It was absolutely delicious and the kind of cake where a small slice was definitely enough.  It would probably work well using a slightly larger tin.

I forgot to dust it with icing sugar until I was taking pictures of the leftovers at home.  That definitely made it look more glamorous - not that it needed it.  I kept the remaining cake in the fridge and it still tasted fresh several days later when I took it round to another friend's house for coffee.  Definitely a keeper and you can see the recipe here.

Ingredients

250g each of:

    unsalted butter, softened (I used baking spread)

    caster sugar

    self raising flour

    ground almonds

2 large eggs (mine were very small so I used 3)

1 tsp almond extract

250g cooked plums, stoned and halved (see recipe here)

2 tblsp flaked almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 185°C / 175° fan.  Grease and line the base of a 20cm round springform cake tin.

Put the butter, sugar, flour, almonds, eggs and extract into a large bowl and beat well with a hand held electric whisk until well blended (or use a stand mixer).

Spoon roughly half of the mixture into the prepared tin and arrange the cooked plums over the top.

Carefully spoon the remaining mixture over the plums and spread out evenly.  Scatter the flaked almonds over the top.

Bake for 55-65 minutes until done, covering loosely with foil about half way through to prevent the cake from browning too much.

Cool in the tin.  Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Cuts into 10 generous slices.

VEGAN LEMON CAKE

This vegan cake was easy to make and looked lovely when iced.  You can see the recipe I used here.  I was interested in some of the comments which suggested that people use vegan recipes if they want to make a cake but have no eggs or butter in the house. 

I made it for a cake sale and it sold out.

Frequently I don't get to taste a cake that I have made for an event but I snuck a slice of this one because I was curious to know how it tasted and was delighted to find that it was perfectly delicious.   I don't think I have ever been without eggs and butter in the house and therefore the means to bake a cake!  However, it's so easy to make that I would definitely make it again, not just to provide something vegan but because it's really, really good!  

At some point in the future I might also try using GF flour, as suggested in the online recipe, which would be good for vegans and those who are gluten intolerant.

Finally, I couldn’t resist sharing some pictures of the fabulous sunsets we’ve been having recently.

Ingredients 

For the cake

275g self raising flour

200g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

zest of 1 lemon

juice of ½ a lemon

100ml vegetable oil

170ml cold water

For the icing

150g icing sugar

juice of ½ a lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180° fan / gas mk 6.  Grease and line a loaf tin* or use a paper liner.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest).

Add the oil, lemon juice and water and mix together until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 30 minutes or until done.  Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

When the cake is cool, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add enough lemon juice to make a spreadable icing.  Pour onto the cake and spread over the top.  

Decorate with more lemon zest, sprinkles or edible flowers if you wish.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

*The recipe online said to use a 1lb loaf tin.  I think there was probably too much mixture for that.  

I used a 2lb (900g) French loaf tin which is slightly longer and slimmer than an English one and the cake was plenty deep enough.  Next time I might use a 20cm round tin.