Ciao Chow Linda

Plum Almond Cake

Author: Ciao Chow Linda via Domenica Marchetti

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sunflower or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• 1/2 cup almond meal or almond flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup half and half or whole milk

• finely grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon

• 1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

• 9 Italian plums, halved and pitted (or more if they’re small)

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8-inch springform pan. Dust tthe pan with flour and tap out the excess.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, egg, half and half (or milk), lemon juice and zest, the 1 cup sugar, and almond extract.

4. Whisk to blend thoroughly.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

6. Pour the batter into tthe prepared pan.

7. Arrange the plum halves, cut side up, on top of the batter.

8. In a bowl, combine the almonds, the 2 tablespoons sugar and the butter and mix well.

9. Dot the almond topping over the cake.

10. Bake until the topping is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

11. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes.

12. Remove the ring from the pan and place the cake on a serving platter.

13. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.