Ever find it hard to decide between a pudding and a cake? Something to serve hot with custard, or cold with a cuppa? That was the quandary facing me when I decided to combine both and make this scrumptiously fruity plum and almond crumble cake.
We were expecting friends for lunch, and I couldn’t decide how to finish the meal. I mean, I love a bowl of steaming hot pudding with custard or ice-cream, but there was a good chance we might decide to wait awhile after our main course, and have our ‘afters’ later, with a cup of coffee or tea. What to do?
This yummy plum and almond crumble cake neatly adapts itself to both purposes. Served warm, it basks under its blanket of custard and makes a superb pudding. Sliced into squares and served cold, it is a perfect accompaniment to a reviving cup of tea. (The leftovers were gobbled up as afternoon tea/elevenses over the next couple of days.)
Kipper was very fond of this plum and almond crumble cake, despite being largely ambivalent about plums. The only problem was that her school’s ‘no nuts’ rule meant that I couldn’t put squares of crumble cake into her lunchbox. Bah! I think she polished off her fair share at home though, so that’s OK.
I flavoured the cake part with cinnamon, which I think goes wonderfully well with plums, and with almonds come to that. You could also try a little orange zest to ring the changes. Lovely.
This versatile plum and almond crumble cake is a terrific bake for a weekend, and I shall certainly be making it again soon – it’s a dessert, cake and snack in one, and delicious every time!
Serves 8-10.
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Plum and almond crumble cake
A delicious fruity cake that's great served warm as a pudding or cold with a cuppa.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 100 g plain flour (3/4 cup)
- 100 g ground almonds (3/4 cup)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 100 g margarine or butter (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
- 100 g light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
- 2 eggs
- 5-6 plums
For the crumble
- 25 g plain flour (scant 1/4 cup)
- 25 g ground almonds (scant 1/4 cup)
- 25 g margarine or butter (2 tbsp)
- 25 g brown sugar (2 tbsp)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 20cm square cake tin (or equivalent size rectangular or round tin) with baking parchment.
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Sift the flour into a bowl. Stir in the ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon, and set aside.
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Cream the margarine/butter and brown sugar together until fluffy.
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Beat in the eggs together with a little of the flour mixture. Fold in the rest of the flour until well combined.
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Scrape the mixture into the lined tin and spread to the edges.
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Carefully stone the plums and cut each one into 8 slices. Arrange the plum slices skin-side-down, in rows over the top of the cake batter.
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To make the crumble, rub the flour and ground almonds into the margarine/butter, then stir in the sugar and almonds. (Alternatively pulse all the crumble ingredients in a food processor.) Scatter the mixture evenly over the plums.
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Bake at 180C/350F for 45-60 minutes, until the crumble is browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
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Allow to cool in the tin before serving warm or cold.
Update 9/10/17 – I substituted peeled, sliced pears for the plums and ground hazelnuts for the almonds, and made a wonderfully autumnal version of this delicious crumble cake! Why not give it a whirl?
I’m joining this recipe in with Bake of the Week, hosted by Casa Costello, and CookBlogShare, hosted this week by Recipes Made Easy.
Oh this is very much my kind of bake, double purpose for dessert and snacks!
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I made it yesterday as my plum tree is overflowing with plums:) It turned out great & we all loved it. Thank you for sharing
So glad you enjoyed it Alena! It’s a fab way to use seasonal produce 🙂
Given the choice between pudding and dessert, I always opt for pudding so this is definitely my sort of cake. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor.
Fabulous – a bit messy to make and it did take 15mins longer to cook but very very yummy. Will make again
Thanks Alma – glad you enjoyed it, and were able to adjust the cooking time. I think that ovens/tins/other conditions can sometimes make quite a difference to the timing, but always worth it for something yummy in the end!
With the erratic weather we’re experiencing, I don’t blame you for not being able to make your mind up. Whatever you call it, it looks like a fabulous sweet ending to any meal.
Thanks Michelle 🙂
Yes, it’s a great dessert after a meal, but I love a sneaky slice with a cuppa sometimes too!
I do love a good crumble cake and this looks delicious. I sort of understand why a school might not want nuts, but gosh, that does seem a bit restrictive.
Thanks Choclette. I think most schools are nut-free these days, but extremely severe (potentially deadly) allergies to nuts do seem to be much more common than I ever remember from my childhood. I wonder what we are doing differently now?
A classic combination and it looks so good. Now I want custard with mine. Hot custard, none of this cold custard nonsense. Shared!
Agreed – custard should always be hot! Thanks Jac ?
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I love a crumble cake as it combines a comfort food pudding with a cake – what’s not to love? pear and almond go so well together too. Thank you for linking up to #Bakeoftheweek x
Thanks Jenny – that’s why I love them too. Why choose pudding or cake when you can have both!
This is so my kinda recipe. If I had plums in the house I would be in the kitchen right now making it as it looks absolutely delicious.
Thank you for sharing on #CookBlogShare
Thanks Jacqui! I just bought another punnet of plums and I have to admit I’m quite tempted to make another one 🙂
This is a lovely cake and I especially like the proportions you’ve used, so easy to remember:)
You know, I hadn’t even noticed!! Although I think I do things like that unconsciously – I just like recipes to be ‘orderly’ ?
I know just what you mean about the pudding and cake quandry Helen, but this sounds to be the perfect option. I just love the crumble topping too – it sounds absolutely delicious. #CookBlogShare
Angela x
Thanks Angela. I’m a big crumble fan too. Especially if there’s also custard involved….