Italian plum cake with amaretti crumble

This Italian plum cake with amaretti crumble is wonderfully easy to make and absolutely irresistible. The cake is fragrant, light, soft and moist, while juicy plums pair beautifully with a crisp crumble made from classic Italian amaretti biscuits. A must-bake during plum season!

Ingredients for the amaretti crumble:

• 90 g amaretti biscuits
• 30 g butter, at room temperature

Place both ingredients into a food processor and pulse until coarse crumbs form.

Ingredients for the plum cake:

• 190 g plain flour
• 55 g ground almonds
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 125 ml rapeseed oil, sunflower oil or light olive oil
• 125 ml milk
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 small lemon
• 140 g caster sugar
• a few drops of almond extract (optional)
• 250 g plums

All the ingredients should be at room temperature. Stone the plums. If they are small, leave them halved; if larger, cut them into smaller pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and, if using, the almond extract until well combined. Sift the flour and baking powder directly into the wet ingredients, then add the ground almonds. Whisk briefly, just until the ingredients are combined. Do not overmix.

Line an 18 × 28 cm baking tin with baking paper. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared tin. Arrange the plum halves or pieces on top, cut-side up, then sprinkle evenly with the amaretti crumble.

Bake at 180°C for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Recipe source: Jo’s Kitchen Larder.