This has got to be one of my all time favourite go to desserts or treats. It’s so versatile and lends itself so well to all kinds of fruits – the possibilities are ENDLESS and just a simple tweak here and there you can change the flavour of this humble deliciousness completely. If we are going on holiday somewhere and I know I will be cooking here and there I always travel with a bag of ground almonds as I can find everything else very easily and locally.
This dessert dish tastes much more sophisticated than it actually is in terms of preparation as is such a crowd pleaser!
Ingredients
2 eggs preferably organic and free range
170g ground almonds (almond flour)
170g softened butter
100g unrefined light brown or caster sugar OR coconut sugar OR honey
1 tsp almond extract (optional depending on what other flavours you are adding– can use vanilla, Rose water or cinnamon, or cardamom etc..)
1 tsp baking powder.
Zest 1 lemon
Flaked almonds to scatter for decoration
1 – 1 1/2 cups Fruit of your choice – here are some of my favourite combos:
- 1 cup of poached peach slices with frozen or fresh blueberries
- 1 cup stewed plums with cinnamon & star anise.
- 1 cup mixed fresh berries with 1 tbsp rosewater.
- 1 cup stewed apple & cinnamon
- 1 cup fresh mango, 2 tbsp chopped preserved ginger & cardamom ( I would take out the almond extract and replace with 1/2 tsp ground cardamom)
- 1 cup cherries & berries (could also add some chocolate chips here)
- 1 cup fresh ripe figs & Cinnamon
If you start at the outside of the dish and work your way in its easier to spread the batter over the fruit. My batter is slightly dark as I used coconut sugar here.
Method
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a dish, roughly 18 x 25cm, then set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the soft butter, sugar, eggs, flour, almonds, zest, almond extract (or flavouring of your choice) and a pinch of salt (if you used salted butter then skip the salt here) with an electric whisk until combined.
- Dollop the sponge mixture over the fruit starting at the sides so the batter will stick and work your way inwards and spread to a smooth layer, trying not to disturb the fruit underneath too much.
- Scatter over the flaked almonds, then bake for 35 – 45 mins until a skewer inserted into the sponge layer comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 mins, then serve warm or cold with greek yogurt mixed with vanilla, ice cream, custard or whipped cream and vanilla.
NB: If you use decent unrefined sugar you will get a lighter more golden coloured finish 🙂
watch my You Tube video on how to make this treat – In this version I added rose water into the batter:
In this version below I par-baked a wholemeal pastry base first then added the frangipane mixture and added the sliced peaches on top along with some pastry flowers for decoration!