As mentioned on Day 16 of The Challenge
This brings back memories of visiting my German grandparents near Frankfurt. Essentially we had 4 meals a day there, the three standard ones and a fourth, Kaffeetrinken, at about 4, where there would be fresh baked cakes (yes, plural), every day. Needless to say that visits involved a bit of weight gain, but also cooking with my Oma in her kitchen, and picking fresh fruit and berries in the garden with Opa. This recipe comes with fond memories, both of times with them and since starting to make it for myself. Plus, did I mention, it's plum season?! I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
273 c butter, soft
3/4 c sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 c ground nuts (I like using almonds)
8 plums or apricots, halved and pitted
Crumble topping:
1/4 c oats
1/8 c chilled butter in pieces
1/8 c light brown sugar
1/2 c nuts, chopped ( Walnuts or hazelnuts)
1) Sift dry cake ingredients. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add a little of the flour mixture, stir, and add in the rest and the ground nuts.
2) Spoon (yes, not pour, as it will be quite thick) the batter into a prepared pan. Arrange plums cut side up over the cake and press gently.
3) Mix crumble with fingers and scatter over the top of the cake. Sprinkle nuts over the top.
4) bake at 177°C for 45-50 minutes until golden and knife comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes then serve.
It serves up well on its own, with cinnamon sugar, cream or heavy cream, custard, jam, or a combination of these (although that is a bit decadent!) I hope you enjoy this as much as I do and that you can create your own memories with it :)