Almond & Plum Cake (GF)

All my cakes I bake at home will fall under the ‘easy’ category. In fact I like my cakes to be a bit on the ‘bread side’ as I don’t like icing or overly sweet cakes and like the Italians, I think it is perfectly reasonable to have a slice for breakfast.

I love anything almond, so its is not surprising that I prefer cakes made with almond flour. You don’t need any special equipment here either, just a whisk.

This cakes keeps really well covered in a cake stand on the kitchen counter, ready for anyone who wants a slice.

Picked up some lovely organic plums but I think peaches would be wonderful too.

You can serve this cake slightly warm or at room temperature.

A good cup of tea or maybe a bit of whipped cream on the side.

20 x 30cm bread loaf tin, whisk & spatula

• 215g (2 1/2 cups) almond flour
• 22g (1/4 cup) gluten free oat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, beaten
• 120ml (1/2 cup) maple syrup (plus to glaze after baked)
• 60ml (1/4 cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (see note)
• 1 lemon, grated lemon zest
• tiny pinch salt
• 2 medium fresh plums, halved, pitted and cut into wedges
• a few scattered chopped whole almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Line the baking tin with baking paper. An overhang at the sides makes lifting a lot easier.
2. Put the almond flour in a medium bowl, with your fingertips even out any lumps. Sift in the oat flour and baking powder and whisk to combine.
3. In another medium bowl, add your beaten eggs, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, almond extract, salt and lemon zest, whisk to combine.
4. Pour into the almond flour mixture and stir with a spatula until combine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread out evenly with your spatula.
6. Arrange the plums skin down over the top, pressing them ever so slightly into the batter. Sprinkle with almonds if using.
7. Bake for 35 to 40min until the cake is golden and a skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool down slightly inside the cake tin for 10 to 15 minutes before removing the cake.
9. I glazed my cake with some maple syrup which is totally optional. Brush the fruit and top of the cake with the maple syrup to ensure a shiny ‘tuck in’ invitation.

Almond extract is not the same as almond essence. Extract is a naturally extracted from almonds and essence is essentially a flavouring, so quite unnatural and can quite often add a synthetic taste. I like the Nielsen-Massey varieties, you can buy extract here