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Almond Butter Cake with Cardamom and Baked Plums
Ingredients
For Baked Plums
  • 1 lb. 7 oz. whole red plums
  • 1/2 C. dry white wine
  • 1/2 C. plus 2 t. granulated sugar
  • 10 cardamom pods roughly crushed in a pestle and mortar or 1 t. cardamom powder
  • 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
  • 1 long strip of orange peel
  • 1/2 C. water
For Cake
  • 8 oz. almond paste broken into 4 or 5 pieces
  • 1 C. granulated sugar
  • 1 C. plus 1 1/2 T. unsalted butter at room temperature
  • Finely grated zest of one large orange about 1 T.
  • 3/4 t. ground cardamom freshly ground if possible
  • 6 large eggs room temperature
  • 1/8 t. almond extract
  • 1 C. plus 1 T. all-purpose flour
  • 2 T. cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 t. baking powder
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for topping
Instructions
To prepare the plums:
  1. To bake the plums, wash plums and remove stems. Leave plums whole (but remember to warn your guests that the stones are still in the baked plums). Put plums in an 8-inch square baking dish.
  2. Make the poaching liquid for the plums. Put white wine, sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, orange peel and water into a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. When the poaching liquid boils, remove it from the heat and pour it over the plums. Cover the plums tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees F. for 20-40 minutes. The timing depends upon the size of the plums. When cooked you want the plums to be soft but whole. When baked, set the plums aside. You can serve them at room temperature but I liked them a whole lot better warm.
To prepare the cake:
  1. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
  2. Use a 9-inch bundt pan for this recipe. Prepare the pan by greasing it carefully to ensure that your cake comes out cleanly.
  3. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, put the almond paste pieces into the mixer along with the sugar and beat the mixture for about three minutes at low speed. Add the room-temperature butter, orange zest and ground cardamom and continue to beat the mixture. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time to the almond paste mixture. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides of your mixer bowl. Beat after each egg addition until the egg is well incorporated into the batter. Add almond extract and mix.
  4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Then, mix the sifted dry mixture to the almond paste/egg batter until the dry ingredients are just mixed (low speed on your mixer). Do not overmix here.
  5. Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees F. When you cake is done, you will be able to insert a skewer in the center of the cake and have the skewer come out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a cake plate.
  6. This cake can be served warm or at room temperaure. You can either break up some of the baked plums and spoon them over the cake (with some of their juices) or you can serve a whole baked plum beside the slice of cake. Remember to warn your guests that the stones are still in the plums!
  7. I served this with whipped cream but it would be wonderful served with vanilla ice cream. (See Easiest Vanilla Ice Cream recipe on Blue Cayenne. http://bluecayenne.com/easiest-vanilla-ice-cream). Sprinkle a bit of extra granulated sugar over the plums if you wish.