Plum streusel cake
“Mother's rich cakes are a tradition worth preserving.”
Cake
- 250g self-raising flour
- 75g sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 150g unsalted butter, cold
- 1 egg
- 900g plums such as Angelina or President
- 1 1/2 tbsp castor sugar
- ground cinnamon
Streusel
- 150g plain flour
- 100g sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 100g unsalted butter, cold
The plum streusel is my favourite combination but this is a versatile cake and can work well with rhubarb, apricots, cherries, quince or apples. It's quick and easy to make but, best of all, if you have never had streusel before, you'll love the crunchy sweet finish. Serve with whipped cream.
Method
For the cake
Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 26cm flan tin.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter together in a food processor and blitz until you have coarse crumbs. Add the egg and process until the dough comes together to form a ball. Press the dough together with your hands, cover with plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. On a floured surface, roll the pastry until 5mm thick and line the flan tin. You will have a little left over.
For the streusel
Combine all ingredients in the food processor and blitz until you have coarse crumbs. Empty into a bowl and rub together with your hands until you have fat lumpy crumbs.
For the plums
Wash, de-stone and cut into eights. Arrange upright tightly in the flan. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tbsp castor sugar and a little cinnamon. Sprinkle over the streusel and bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown on top.
