Plums, chocolate and hazelnut – this is a cake that really celebrates the season. Enjoy a slice with your mid-morning coffee or serve it warm for dessert
Ingredients
- 175g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 500g plums
- 175g light muscovado sugar
- 175g self-raising flour
- 175g ground hazelnuts
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 50g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa), chopped
- 2 tbsp hazelnuts
- 2 tbsp redcurrant, damson or plum jelly
Method
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Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the base of a round 20cm cake tin. Halve and stone 4 plums, set aside for later, then roughly chop the remaining plums.
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Put the sugar, butter, flour, ground hazelnuts, eggs and baking powder into a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer for 1-2 mins, until smooth and light. Stir in the chopped plums and chocolate, then tip into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top.
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Arrange the halved plums over the top of the mixture, pressing them down lightly, then scatter over hazelnuts. Bake for 40-50 mins until the top is golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out, remove the paper and cool on a wire rack. Heat the jelly, then brush over the top of the cake before serving.