SUGAR PLUM & CURRANT TORTE
I am forever going on and on about the market at this time of year and how truly beautiful, bright and flavorful all of the fruit is, and this post is no exception! I found some gorgeous sugar plums and tart currants and set off to bake on a Sunday - nothing too complicated, just a tad decadent, and delicious for days into the week.
What I ended up with is this torte, a true summer dessert (and sometimes breakfast!). This is perfect for cake novices because the batter is just so easy. It comes together in less than 10 minutes and is virtually fool-proof.
A few points: I happened to make this gluten-free, but if you only have all purpose flour on hand, go ahead and replace the flours with an equal amount of it; just drop down the baking powder to 1 teaspoon. Also, I don't use a ton of sugar here, so the key is using super sweet plums to offset the tartness of the currants. Taste before baking!
Enjoy!
Ingredients
Serves 6 to 8
½ cup oat flour
½ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup almond flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup coconut, palm, unrefined, or plain old white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
10 sugar plums, halved and pitted
½ cup red currants
raw honey + cinnamon
Procedure
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder and salt.
With a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter with the sugar. To the sweet butter, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated. With the mixer on low, add in the flour until just incorporated.
Transfer the batter to a greased 9-inch cake or pie tin. Layer the plum halves (skin side up) and currants. Brush the plums with a bit of raw honey and sprinkle cinnamon all over.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before unmolding.