This is a sublime riff on a fruit crumble. An almond flavoured rich cookie base. Juicy, dark Bing cherries. Then a strusel topping whispering the same cookie taste. A cake that is not a cake but a crumble. A decadent dessert that sings of summer.
Once you’ve pitted the cherries the cake goes together in just ten minutes. If you don’t have a cherry- pitter it is easy to remove pits with a chop-stick or the pointed end of a decorating pastry tip. Hold the cherry between two fingers and position it on a cutting board. Push the chop stick or pastry tip through the center of the stem.
The crumble is a combination of ground almonds, flour and butter. A quick whirl in your food processor. Press half the mixture into a cake base with a removable base. Sprinkle with cherries. Then top with the remaining streusel and pop in the oven. This is the perfect summer cake for a picnic. Just transport the cake in its tin.
| CHERRY STREUSEL . . . Juicy Bing cherries nestle between layers of meltingly rich short crumble. | Print |
- 1⅝ cup (200g, 7 oz.) of all-purpose flour
- l cup (110g, 4 oz) ground almonds (aka almond flour)
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. fine sea salt
- ½ cup (110 g, 4oz) extra-fine sugar (aka berry sugar, castor sugar)
- 1 cup (225g, 8 oz) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- About 1¾ cups (400g,14 oz) cherries (pitted)
- Icing sugar for dusting
- Heat the oven to 190C (375F).
- Place the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar in the bowl of a food processor,. Add the chilled butter and reduce the mixture to crumbs. It's very important that the butter is cold otherwise it will cream into a dough. Stop the motor when the mixture starts to cling together like a crumble.
- You can also prepare the mixture by hand.
- Press half of the mixture into the base of an 8 inch (20 cm) cake tin 3½ inches(9 cm) deep with a removable base.
- Scatter the cherries over the shortbread base, then scatter the crumble mixture over the top of the fruit.
- Place the cake pan on a larger pan to catch any drips.
- Bake for 45 minutes until the top is golden and crisp.
- Remove and allow the cake to cool, then run a knife around the collar to remove it.
- Dust with icing sugar and serve.
Once you’ve pitted the cherries the cake goes together in just ten minutes. The crumble is a combination of ground almonds, flour and butter. A quick whirl in your food processor. Press half the mixture into a cake base with a removable base. Sprinkle with cherries. Then top with the remaining streusel and pop in the oven. This is the perfect summer cake for a picnic. Just transport the cake in its tin.
