Plumy...

So I've had a bit of a rubbish day today, when having a gas and electric meter upgrade the engineer found 2 faults in my house! One ended up being not a huge problem and they were able to deal with it and make it safe for me but the second could be a slightly larger problem and has resulted in my gas being capped off so not heating, hot water or cooking for me today :(

Thankfully though I made a cake yesterday and after sharing it with my family and some of my mum's colleagues and volunteers I feel a little better as it got some good reviews! :)

"This is the best cake ever! It's even better than chocolate cake!" - My Niece, Age 4!

Plum & Custard Cake

Ingredients:

250g Caster Sugar
250g Self-raising Flour
250g Unsalted Butter - Softened
75g Thick Custard (Ready Made is perfect)
4 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
5 Plums - Chopped
10 Plums - Halved & Stoned
20g Flaked Almonds

Equipment:

Rectangle Roasting Tin or Cake Tin
Electric Mixer (Hand or Stand Mixer)
Baking Paper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4. Grease the tin and line with baking paper.
   
2. In a large bowl or in a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time with a little flour.  
4. Add the remaining four, salt and bicarbonate of soda and mix.
5. Add in the custard, vanilla extract and chopped plums and fold together.
6. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and bake for 25 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and lay the halved plums on top with the cut side up and sprinkle the almonds over the top.
9. Return to the oven and bake for a further 45 minutes. It should be golden brown and a skewer or knife should come out cleanish, a little sticky. 
10. Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before taking out of the tin to cool fully.
11. Enjoy! 

Tip: If the cake is browning too quickly, cover with tinfoil.

I've enjoyed making this one, it looks quite pretty and I've had requests to make it again so I think it may become one of my regular cakes to make when plums are on offer. 

I did also have plans to make plum jam but it's currently on hold due to the lack of gas! 

Please share your pictures if you make this! :)

Em x