Plum Cake - two variations

Oven: 190 C (375 F) (Gas 5)

Ingredients:

1/2lb. (250g.) plums - washed, dried, halved & destoned

a heaped tablespoon of sugar

large pinch of cinnamon

large rounded tablespoon of ground almonds

Mix all the above together in a plastic bag and set aside.

Cake:

5ozs. (150g.) butter - softened

5ozs. (150g.) sugar

2 beaten eggs

6 ozs. (175g) self-raising flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

juice of a small lemon & zest

1. Cream the butter and sugar together

2. Add the eggs and sift the flour in

3. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and zest - fold all in together

4. Spoon into a lined baking dish/tin and bake for about 15 mins.

5. When 15mins are up, carefully pull the cake forward (not removing it from the oven if poss.) and place the halved plums on top - (either way up - to your choice) and evenly sprinkle over any remaining topping crumbs.

6. Push gently back into the oven and bake for approx. another 30/45 mins - do the skewer test in the center to see whether it is cooked all the way through.  (If you bake this cake in a deeper tin, it will take longer to cook.) .... I invariably burn either my hand or my arm when I do this - so do be careful!

This cake is delicious served either hot or cold - with cream (of course!)


Version 2:  Crumbed & Upside down Cake - Method:
You can also make this by firstly:
1. Sprinkling the ground almonds, sugar and cinnamon on to a well buttered base of your tin.  2. Place the quartered and stoned plums on top in a nice pattern.
3. Put the sugar, flour and cold butter into your processor and 'crumb' it. Pour into a large mixing bowl. 
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together until you have a nice consistency - if it's too thick, add a little warm water.


Bake as normal until the top, when gently pressed, feels done - you can test with a skewer but because the plums are on the base, the skewer may come out looking slightly sticky.


I find the creamed version makes a slightly lighter cake, but I always burn my hands when putting the plums on!  ...... the 'crumbed' version is also pretty good.