Chef
Cherry and almond
crumble cake
This cake has a number of elements that at first glance might look a little intimidating, but bear with me. It received a thumbs-up from my harshest critic and chief taste tester who felt that all the various layers were necessary – and Mum knows best. On the bottom is a buttery shortbread base, topped with a layer of cherry jam, followed by a rich almond cake studded with fresh juicy cherries that are almost hidden under a crisp crumble topping. If you want to make life one little step easier, you could leave out the crumble layer and simply scatter the top of the cake with flaked nibbed almonds. It’s equally good served slightly warm as a pudding, with vanilla ice cream or cream.
Serves 8-10
For the shortbread base 125g plain flour 100g unsalted butter, chilled and diced, plus extra for greasing 40g icing sugar A pinch of salt 3 tbs cherry jam
For the crumble topping 40g flaked almonds 50g soft light brown sugar 40g plain flour 25g unsalted butter, melted
For the cake 125g unsalted butter, softened 125g caster sugar 3 medium eggs, beaten 1 tsp finely grated unwaxed lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract 1/4 tsp almond extract 100g ground almonds 75g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder A pinch of salt 2 tbs soured cream 350g cherries, stoned
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. Prepare the shortbread base
first. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, butter, icing sugar and salt until the butter has been rubbed into the flour. Tip into the prepared tin and press into an even layer covering the base. If
52 | The Caterer | 31 July 2015
your jam is a tad chunky, give it a quick whizz in the food processor to break up any large bits. Bake the shortbread on the
middle shelf of the oven for 12 minutes until pale golden. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack. Place the dry ingredients for the crumble topping in a bowl and stir in the melted butter with your fingertips until the mixture starts to clump together. Now for the cake. Cream the
butter and sugar until really pale and light. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each
addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time. Add the lemon zest, vanilla and almond extract and mix again. Sift in the dry ingredients and beat until smooth, then add the soured cream and mix again. Spread the jam evenly over
the shortbread, but leaving a 1cm border around the edge, otherwise it will burn on the sides of the tin. Spoon over the cake mixture and spread level, arrange the cherries on top and scatter with the crumble. Bake on the middle shelf
of the oven for 45 to 60 minutes until golden brown, well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Loosely cover the top with baking parchment if it appears to be browning too quickly. Leave the cake to cool in the tin
for 10 minutes, then run a palette knife around the edge to loosen the sides, remove from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.
Recipe taken from Summer Berries & Autumn Fruits by Annie Rigg, reviewed opposite. Photography by Tara Fisher.
www.thecaterer.com
TARA FISHER
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