PLUM CAKE

The important thing when making this cake is that the butter should be nice and soft.

FOR THE CARAMEL
175 g sugar (2 dl)
6 tbsp water (90 cl)
4 large plums, halved. I used 10 of my smaller ones!

FOR THE CAKE
150 g plain flour (2,5 dl)
2 tsp baking powder
175 g butter, softened
175 g sugar (2 dl)
4 tbsp ground almonds (60 cl)
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp natural vanilla extract or 2 tsp vanilla sugar

Heat the oven to 150 C. Butter a 24 cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
Place the sugar and water in a heavy-based pan over a low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. Don´t let the liquid boil until the sugar has completely dissolved to form a clear syrup. Now raise the heat to medium and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly until the syrup starts to turn brown around the edge of the pan. Lower the heat and cook the sugar to a dark golden brown. You shouldn't´t stir sugar as it cooks, just swirl the pan once or twice so that i colours evenly. As soon as the caramel is ready, pour immediately into the buttered tin. Arrange the plums skin side up over the caramel.

Mix the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl. Add butter, sugar, almonds, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth and evenly blended, 1-2 minutes. Spread the cake mixture over the fruit. Bake until the top is golden brown and the sides of the cake have pulled away from the tin, about 50 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool for a few minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cake and turn out onto a serving dish. If any pieces of fruit stick to the paper, don´t despair, use a spatula to remove and press them back into place. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature. Dust with icing sugar and serve with a dollop of thick yogurt, crème fraiche, whipped cream, custard or ice cream!