This yummy cake is such a treat! Enjoy a slice when friends come round for tea, take on a picnic or pack in a lunch box – you could even serve it warm with custard or cream for dessert
- 110g/4oz Red Tractor Country Life English butter
- 110g/4oz Red Tractor Silver Spoon caster sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 110g/4oz ground almonds
- 110g/4oz Red Tractor Allinson self-raising flour
- 25g/1oz instant polenta or semolina
- Pinch of salt
- Topping:
- 1 Red Tractor eating apples, cored and sliced
- 1 Red Tractor pear, peeled, cored and sliced
- 2 Red Tractor plums, pitted and sliced
- 50g/2oz Red Tractor Silver Spoon granulated sugar
- Red Tractor Silver Spoon icing sugar, to sprinkle
Preheat the oven to 170°C, 325°F, Gas 3. Grease and line a 20cm/8 inch round cake tin.
Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using a hand-held electric whisk if you like. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the almond extract.
Mix together the ground almonds, flour, polenta or semolina and salt. Add to the creamed mixture and fold in gently using a large metal spoon (not a wooden one, or you will lose the air you have incorporated). Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until risen and golden brown, and the surface is firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then lift the cake from the tin and cool.
To make the topping, put the sliced apple, pear and plums into a large non-stick frying pan with 2 tbsp water and the sugar. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring often, until the fruit begins to soften and caramelise. Cool slightly, then tip on top of the cake. Serve when completely cool, sprinkled with icing sugar.
Cook’s tip: Using polenta or semolina in the recipe gives the cake its “nutty” texture, but you could just use an extra 25g/1oz of self-raising flour instead, if you prefer. Serve the cake warm as a dessert – with Red Tractor whipped double cream or custard.