SERVES 12\16 – GLUTEN FREE
At this point, I must have made at least 6 to 7 different versions of this cake.
It’s based on the recipe of a chef friend for an upside-down version. I tried the upside down a few times only to then transform it into what it is today.
This cake uses buckwheat flour, one of my absolute favorite pseudo-grains to use. Buckwheat is so versatile, both the groats and the flour, being super quick to sprout, easy to use in raw cooking, delicious toasted to top salads or soups, and incredibly useful when it comes to baking cakes or crackers.
As a kid, I used to find the taste of buckwheat intense and overwhelming until I learned to enjoy its nutty, earthy flavor and to find the best quality for each preparation.
When it comes to baking, I’ve learned how important it is to find a good quality superfine buckwheat flour, as the more coarse type will leave you with a much more intense nutty earthy flavor, and a less smooth combined batter\dough.
This cake is so delicious and so easily adaptable with different fruit and spices depending on the season. I’ve left you a few options at the end, but feel free to play around with what’s in season.
Ingredients:
130g fine cane sugar + 2 tbsp for sprinkling
160g plant based butter
Zest of 1 lemon
200g plant based milk of choice
1tbsp lemon juice
100g almond flour
160g light buckwheat flour
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp dry nettle powder (optional)
2 medium apples ( about 250g)
15 ripe plums
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp almond flakes ( for decoration )
Method:
Preheat the oven at 180° and prepare a tin (I like to use 28cm, but a 24 will be good as well, remaining in a slightly higher cake) with baking paper or butter and flour to prevent the cake from getting stuck.
In a bowl combine sugar, butter, and lemon zest. Using a fork smash the butter with the sugar.
In a separate bowl sieve flour, baking powder, spices, nettles, and a pinch of salt.
When butter and sugar are combined add milk and lemon juice. Let it rest for 5 minutes. In the meantime, wash and cut the pears into thin slices and the plums in half.
Add half of the flour mixture to the butter, sugar, and milk mixture and start combining gently with a spatula. Once amalgamated add the remaining flour.
You will end up with a quite thick batter. Lastly, add the apples, combine, and spread on a baking tin.
Decorate with the plums by pushing them inside the batter. Sprinkle with sugar and decorate the edges with the almond flakes.
Bake at 180° for 35-44 minutes depending on your oven until golden.
MODIFICATIONS:
- Replace almond flour with hazelnut and apples for pears.
- Replace all the fruit with peaches and add vanilla and cardamom instead of cinnamon and ginger.
- Replace almond flour for hazelnuts and all fruit with mixed berries.