Autumn Damson Crunch Cake

I’m feeling a little better, yet still not 100% but my gorgeous hubby has been working from home this week and been looking after me. I decided to venture into my beloved kitchen today, there is only so much I can take of laying in bed watching TV, and made this Autumn Damson Crunch Cake. Plus I needed to use up the damsons we bought home from the lodge before they go off. This cake is moist, moreish and has the most wonderful, crunchy sugarplum topping. Although I couldn’t quite bring myself to use the amount of sugar the recipe states for the topping, I only used half and omitted the rough sugar pieces and it was sweet enough. Wishing you all a lovely weekend and watch this space for cupcakes coming soon!

Autumn Damson Crunch Cake

Ingredients
2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
140g butter, softened
140g golden caster sugar
140g self-raising flour
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
200g damsons or plums, stoned, half roughly chopped into pieces and half cut into wedges

For the topping
1 ½ tbsp fresh lemon juice
200g golden caster sugar
25g rough sugar pieces (or sugar cubes), roughly crushed

Preheat the oven to 160oC/fan oven 140oC/gas mark 3. Butter and line the base of a 900g/2lb loaf tin. Lightly beat the eggs and egg yolk with a pinch of salt.

Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Pour in the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour with the orange zest and 2 tablespoons of the juice, then fold in the roughly chopped damsons. Spoon into the prepared tin and scatter the damson wedges over. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack. Mix the remaining orange juice with the lemon juice and caster sugar. Spoon over the cooling cake and sprinkle with the crushed sugar pieces. Cool until set.

Above is a pic of the Damsons we picked from the trees at the lodge.