The title is a little under-descriptive as these cakes are little fruit bombs. As I type this, I am wearing Smuggy-McSmugface, having just eaten toast from my first sourdough for breakfast and now onto the coffee. Happy Days! Anyway, this post is not about that kind of baking…
Jump to RecipeI, like every other sane / happy person alive, love cake – in all shapes and forms, simple or complex, wedges or tartlets. I so heavily admire pastry chefs for their patience – I have absolutely no idea how they do it.
Cake baking for me is less of an endeavour into perfection. Sure I love to impress people but for me it tends to come with the flavour rather than having thirteen layers, seven colours and unicorn figurines. No, I am much more dedicated to the flavour of the thing; if it looks good, great! If it sits perfectly alongside a cup of coffee, even better!
This is a true gem to have in your wheelhouse as it is genuinely versatile – here I am going to use Mr. dB’s favourite, a fresh pineapple version but feel free to experiment to your heart’s (or pantry’s) content. The main picture depicts my previous version: apple and blueberry.
Tips and Tricks:
The world is your oyster. Or fruit bowl? You can use any and every fruit you have a craving for. If using fresh fruit, do cook it through before adding to the batter. The same goes with frozen fruit due to how much water is released – you don’t want that in your cake! Dried fruits work, too: simply cover approximately 200g dried fruit with warm water and leave for 20 mins, rough chop to size if needed. Fresh berries, however, make delightful little explosions of colour when used fresh, directly into the batter!
If you’re a little more health conscious and would rather not eat a stick of butter (heathen…) then you can replace half of the butter used in the batter (say that five times fast) with light olive oil.
This little guy only rises to about 1.5″. So don’t worry and think you’ve made a mistake somewhere – his diminutive stature just adds to its classic English tea room vibe!
Butter Cake
Equipment
- 9" cake tin – springform if you have one
- Balloon whisk
- Baking parchment
- Small saucepan or frying pan
- Bowls: one medium mixing bowl and one small
Ingredients
- 114 G Butter 1 stick / 4oz; I always use salted in my baking but feel free to use unsalted
- 2/3 Cup Plain flour Substitute: gluten-free all-purpose
- 2/3 Cup Golden caster Substitute: brown, white, demerara, erythritol
- 2 Whole eggs Large
- 1 Egg; yolk only Refrigerate or freeze the extra white for use in another recipe
- 1/2 Tsp Baking powder Gluten-free if necessary
- 1/2 Tsp Salt I use pink Himalayan for my baking for its lighter flavour
- 1 Tsp Vanilla extract Depending on which fruit you use, you could substitute almond, orange, lemon extract here
- 1/2 Tsp Lemon zest Optional, depending on your fruit choice, but highly recommended for a little lift
The Fruit
- 2 Cups Fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced into roughly 1/2-1" cubes Substitute: any fruit of your choice, fresh, frozen, dried
- 5 Pcs Dried apricots, rehydrated and chopped into small cubes Optional but recommended
Instructions
Preparation.
- Peel, core and slice your pineapple.
- In a small sauce or frying pan, melt all of your butter. Set aside 6 tbsp.
- Add the pineapple slices to the remaining butter. Gently caramelise and soften the fruit, this step can take about 10-15 minutes with pineapple, much less with other fruits. When almost ready, stir in the apricot pieces.
- Line a bowl with some kitchen roll to soak up any excess butter, and pour in the fruit.
Batter Up.
- Preheat your oven to 175C and prepare your cake tin with parchment paper (and a little butter up the sides of the tin if necessary).
- Keeping the sugar aside, combine your remaining dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
- In a larger mixing bowl, whisk your two eggs + one yolk together with the sugar. Add in the vanilla, 6 tbsp butter you'd set aside previously, and zest if using.
- Slowly and gently combine your dry ingredients into your large mixing bowl; then gently fold in the fruit.
- Pour your batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
Ready yet?
- After 30 minutes, take a peek at your cake. It should be golden brown on top and just beginning to pull away from the sides. Give the cake an extra couple of minutes if needed.
- Test your cake's readiness with a toothpick – if it is golden brown and the toothpick comes out clean, you’re good to go.
- Place the cake tin on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes before opening the spring. If using a regular cake tin, carefully lift the parchment paper. If not eating warm, place the cake back onto the wire rack to cool completely.
- Sprinkle a little icing sugar over your cake for decoration, put it on a pretty plate, serve up some custard or ice cream if you wish, and dig in already!
Notes
We would love to hear what you think of our dish.
Please leave a comment below, or if you’ve given this or another dish a whirl, please tag us on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest so we can see your hard work!
