Damson Cake with Caramelised Almond Topping (Tosca cake)

Last month on one of the many sweltering days I jumped on the overground to go to Rachel Khoo’s gorgeous Khoolect Studio to celebrate the launch of her new cookbook, The Little Swedish Kitchen*. She made butternut squash waffles and chocolate-raspeberry bullar and we all sat around in the garden having breakfast before being sent off with a copy of the book and a waffle iron (best goodie bag gift ever tbh).

When I later flicked through the book, making notes of which recipes I wanted to make, the plum tosca cake caught my eye. I’d eaten a mini one before (minus the fruit) at my friend Sarah’s bakery/coffee shop in Leeds (an excellent brunch spot if you’re ever in need!!). It’s a fluffy cake topped with a crispy, chewy, caramelised almond crust. Incredible. The addition of the plums in the book was a great idea as it adds a sharpness which also cuts through the sweet almond layer.

My parents have a damson tree in the garden which last year produced so many that we have a few bags of damsons in the freezer. Unfortunately because of the weird weather this year, it’s not producing any fresh fruit so I just used up some of the freezer supplies. The only annoying part is that damsons have pits in the centre which are a pain to remove unless you cook them down first. I followed my boyfriend’s advice of a method that surgeons use, ‘count them in and count them out’ (apparently the LEGIT method used to prevent them leaving sponges etc inside people during operations), to make sure I got all the damson pits out of the compote.

I slightly adapted the recipe, lowering the baking time as the use of cooked damsons requires less time than using fresh plums due to lower moisture. I also opted for an almond extract in the batter in place of vanilla. Rachel’s tips say that you can swap in other fresh fruit like apricots or cherries in too. I think it would be cool to experiment with different nuts/seeds in the topping (sesame seeds could be incred) or adding chopped chocolate to the fruity later! Endless possibilities, really. Happy baking!

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Damson Cake with Caramelised Almond Topping (Tosca cake)

Serves 8-10 Recipe from The Little Swedish Kitchen by Rachel Khoo published by Michael Joseph 

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Servings: 0

Ingredients

• 40 damsons
• 100 g unsalted butter , softened
• 150 g granulated sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 3 medium eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 250 g plain (all-purpose) flour
• a pinch salt

For the topping:

• 50 g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp double cream
• 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 100 g (1 cup) flaked almonds
• 2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour

Instructions

• Place all the damsons in a medium pot with 50ml (1/4 cup) of water over a medium heat. Once the water in the pot starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low, cover with a lid and leave for 20 minutes. Check on them occasionally to give it a stir and make sure it's not catching on the bottom. 
• Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF)/ 160oC (320oF) fan. Grease and line a 21cm (9-inch) springform pan with baking paper. 
• In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter, granulated sugar and almond extract. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Add the baking powder, flour and salt. Mix together until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake.
• Once cooked, leave to cool with the lid off. When cool enough to handle, pick out all the pits from the damson compote - count them out so you don't miss any!!!
• Spoon the cooked damsons onto the cake batter and spread out into an even layer. Bake for 20 minutes - it'll be a bit undercooked in the centre still.

MAKE THE TOPPING:

• Melt the butter in a small pot over a medium heat. Once melted, take off the heat and stir in the rest of the topping ingredients. 

FINISH THE CAKE:

• Spread the flaked almond topping over the partially baked cake. Turn the oven up to 200oC (400oF) /180oC (350oF) fan. Bake for a further 15-20 minutes until golden on top. 

Notes

• The original recipe uses 9-10 plums, halved and de-stoned. The initial bake is for 30-35 minutes then, once topped, baked for a further 20-25 minutes until golden. 

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it went! Mention @izyhossack or tag #topwithcinnamon!