Seasonal Recipe: Apple and Plum Frangipane Slice
A marvellously Autumnal dessert championing English orchard fruit – a perfect cake to enjoy after a chilly Autumn walk or to serve to guests dropping by for a cup of tea.
Grape vines were first established at Nutbourne in 1979 but before then the fields were all orchards. We still have an acre or so of fruit trees, now very old but still providing some lovely fruit if the season works out as it should. The trouble with having apple and plum trees is that one year they yield practically nothing and the next you have a crop so big you don’t know what to do with it. We bottle, freeze, puree and eat orchard fruits until the cows come home. Literally – Gregory gathers the windfall apples into huge crates and feeds them to his cows – apparently very good for them.
This recipe is another way of using orchard fruits but it is so yummy it would be well worth going out and buying what you need. You won’t be disappointed.
Ingredients For 25x20cm Baking Tray
For the Frangipane
100g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
1 Egg
100g Ground Almonds
1 tablespoon Self-raising Flour
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Essence
For the Slice
250g Apple – peeled, cored and sliced
250g Plums – quartered and stoned
100g Muscavado Sugar
50g Butter
100ml Golden Syrup
1 Egg
250g Self-raising Flour with a Pinch of Salt
Method
Begin by preparing the frangipane. Use an electric hand whisk to blend the butter and sugar together.
Keep whisking and add the egg, then the almond, flour and vanilla essence.
Pre cook the apple and plums. Put the fruits and muscovado sugar in a small heavy based pan over a moderate heat. Bring up to the boil, stir, then turn off the heat and allow to cool in their own juice
Again using an electric hand whisk, cream the butter and golden syrup together in a mixing bowl until pale. Add the egg, followed by the flour. When smooth, stir in the fruits and their juices.
Transfer the mixture into baking tray lined with baking paper. Dot small amounts of the frangipane cream evenly across the cake.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 60-75 minutes. Check the cake is firm in the middle then remove from the oven and wait 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack. Allow to fully cool before cutting into even slices.
Recipe by Peter Gladwin ©
