Plum Amaretti Crunch Cake

I must admit, I find a lot of my inspirations from instagram. Seeing such talented cooks and bakers show off their creations, you can't help but feel the urge to bake up a storm! I saw this cake on instagram a few weeks ago and as a coincidence I had just bought a box of amaretti cookies from Home Goods (who's not obsessed with Home Goods?) It was like fate. I had to make this Almond Plum Cake. Soft tender cake flavored with almond and lemon, topped with beautiful purple red plums and topped with Amaretti cookie crumble! Oh my. I had to make it. But decided to add a decadent amaretto glaze, because...I can. So I'm calling this an Plum Amaretti Crunch Cake!

You can't really get more almond than this. And although my kids tend to disagree, I love love the flavor of almond in a baked good. And so do the rest of the adults in my house, which now include my parents! They moved in about a month ago and now I have more testers for my recipes! It all worked out. So the recipe for this cake was original from Jo's Kitchen Larder. A very cute website with awesome ideas. However the recipe was for a 11X7 cake pan and I just didn't have one. So I made this in a 13X9 cake pan and adjusted the measurements to fit. I also converted the original measurements from metrics because I don't think most home bakers have a scale or want to whip one out to bake a cake. I would, but that's just me.

This cake Is a simple one bowl recipe, much like a muffin. Wet ingredients get whisked together then the sifted dry ingredients get thrown in a mixed. I usually don't sift but I was in a good mood today. Also the baking powder I recently bought was extra clumpy and I didn't want to taste a lump of baking powder again... it's not delicious. So the batter gets spread into the greased and lined baking pan. I used an offset spatula to spread it out. Then sliced plums get artfully arranged on top. This is as artful as I could get at the moment as my 3 year old decided she wanted to eat all the plums before I can lay them out on the cake. 

Then it's time for the amaretti crumble. Crushed amaretti cookies (I used my hands to crush them...carefully... because they are super crunchy and they will fly if you're not careful!) gets mixed with softened butter. I also used my hands for this bit. It's actually quite satisfying and turns into a beautiful crumbly mixture. Sprinkle this onto of the cake and bake.

Cool completely once it's out of the oven and make the glaze. I used the same glaze that I used for my cherry corn muffins. It's divine. And of course you can leave the amaretto out if you're kids want to eat this cake. Mine aren't fond of almond...so...more for me!

Plum Amaretti Crunch Cake

*Adapted from Jo's Kitchen Larder

Yields one 13X9" Cake

Ingredients 

For the Cake

• 2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Cup  ground almonds
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 large egg
• 3/4 Cup vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 Cup milk
• juice and zest from one lemon
• 3/4 Cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3 medium sized red plus cut in half and into thin half moon slices

For the Amaretti Crumble

• 1 1/2 cup (approx 18) amaretti cookies (crushed) or more if you'd like more crunch
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter (softened) 

Method

• Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease and line a 13X9  rectangular baking pan with parchment paper
• sieve flour and baking powder and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl whisk together egg, milk, oil, zest & lemon juice, sugar and almond extract.
• Add ground almonds, sieved flour and baking powder and mix gently with wet ingredients only until combined.
• Pour the cake batter onto prepared baking pan and spread evenly.
•  Arrange your sliced plums on top of the batter.
• In a small bowl mixed crushed amaretti biscuits with softened butter and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the cake.
• Bake for 35-40 min or until the skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• Allow to cool and make amaretto glaze.
• Pour glaze over cooled cake.
• Enjoy!