Warm French Almond Cake with Strawberry and Dried Fruit Salad
Serves 6
Warm French Almond Cake
Ingredients
125g caster sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125g butter, softened, but not melted
250g Alison’s Pantry Ground Almonds
60g flour
icing sugar for dusting
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Butter and flour a 20cm diameter cake tin or a 22cm diameter ring tin.
- Beat the sugar and egg yolks until pale and thick.
- Beat in the vanilla and butter then stir in the almonds and flour until well mixed.
- Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.
- Add a little of the whites to the almond mixture and beat it in to loosen the mixture. Fold in the remaining beaten egg whites making sure there are no lumps.
- Spoon into the tin and bake 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, cool to warm (or cool and later reheat gently in the microwave) and dust with icing sugar.
- Serve with some of the fruit salad (recipe to follow) in the middle of the cake if using a ring tin and with mascarpone on the side.
Strawberry and Dried Fruit Salad
Ingredients
¾ cup Alison’s Pantry Prunes
6 Alison’s Pantry Dried Figs, halved
½ cup sweet sherry or dessert wine
juice and zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons caster sugar
500g strawberries, hulled and halved
200g mascarpone (to serve)
Method
- Put the prunes, figs, sherry or wine, juice, zest and sugar into a bowl.
- Mix well and set aside to soak for 30 minutes.
- Add the strawberries and mix gently.
- Cover and chill.
- Serve with mascarpone and warm french almond cake.
Recipe from Ray McVinnie for Alison’s Pantry Christmas booklet 2014
Download the PDF version here: Ray’s Christmas Dessert – Warm French Almond Cake with Strawberry and Dried Fruit Salad