Recipe: Gluten-free plum and ginger cake

This sweet, warming cake makes for a perfect Valentine's treat.

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and this is a Valentine’s cake for you to enjoy with a special someone (or with a glass of wine and a movie)! If you’ve got a plum tree, or know somebody who does, this pretty cake is a great way of getting through the bucket-loads that ripen in droves. Sweet plums are complemented by the warmth of ginger, and almond meal gives the cake a beautifully fluffy crumb. Serve at room temperature, or slightly warmed with custard or cream. Of course, fresh plums to serve are a must.

You can use a paring knife to make heart-shaped slices of plum for the topping - this is such a cute touch for Valentine’s Day. You can alternatively use strawberries, which are equally delicious and easy to cut into heart shapes.

This cake is also gluten-free, which makes it great for that special someone who is coeliac, or just has a sensitive stomach.

Gluten-free plum and ginger cake

Serves eight to 10

Ingredients

• 200g almond meal
• 100g brown sugar
• 50g cornflour
• Two tsp baking powder
• One tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp salt
• 100g butter, room temperature, cubed
• ½ cup milk
• One egg
• One tsp balsamic vinegar
• 250g Black Doris plums, roughly chopped (reserve one plum for topping)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease and line a 19cm springform cake tin.
2. Add almond meal, brown sugar, cornflour, baking powder, ginger and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Briefly mix to combine.
3. Add butter and mix on low for 30 seconds for the mixture to come together.
4. Add milk and beat on low until incorporated, then increase to medium and beat for 30 seconds.
5. Add egg and balsamic vinegar, and beat on medium to incorporate. Finally, increase speed to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds. The mixture should be thick and creamy.
6. Add the chopped Black Doris plums and gently fold through. Transfer batter to prepared tin and smooth the top.
7. For the topping, thinly slice the reserved plum and cut away an inverted triangle at the top of each slice to resemble hearts. Arrange the heart-shaped slices over the top of the batter.
8. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 160C and bake for another 20 minutes.
9. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before removing and transferring to a cooling rack. When completely cooled, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography — in studio or on-location — for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation. Go to Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com.

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