Having moved home from London with not much to do other than job hunt and click refresh on twitter and facebook every two minutes I’ve found myself baking more and more. It started with a giant house-warming cupcake for my friend and boyfriend, delved into the world of flour-less carrot cake and has brought me right up to this Plum and Praline beauty.
It’s a pretty simples recipe.
What you need is:
- 200g (7oz) hazelnuts, skinned
- 500g (11b 2oz) plums, stoned
- 200g (7oz) butter, at room temperature
- 200g (7oz) golden caster sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 200g (7oz) self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2tbsp Demerara sugar
Like all good bakers I set my oven off at 160 degrees and got set roasting off my hazelnuts, remembering to keep a handful to one side for decorating. After their toasting they were allowed too cool and then stuck in the food blender until they are finely ground.
Next half the plums were roughly chopped and the rest were cut into halves for later decorating purposes.
In a bowl the butter and sugar were creamed together until they were smooth and creamy. The eggs are then gradually beaten in, sometimes a little flour is needed if the mixture starts to curdle. Then fold in the flour and baking powder, then stir the ground hazelnuts and chopped plums.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and top with the halved plums and whole hazelnuts. At this stage I then dusted the top of the cake with the Demerara sugar but if I’m honest I’d skip this bit next time.
Then bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and firm. After you bring it out the oven be sure to let it stand for at least 15 minutes to cool – trust me impatience and trying to get it out the tin leads to a cake disaster!
Et voila! Plum and Praline cake!
For a variation on the recipe ground almonds and apricots can be used instead.
