Rosie Makes: Plum, Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake

A seasonal recipe for early Autumn (and my birthday!)

First up, a wee reminder that later this month I’ll be opening the Everything Looks Rosie subscriber community! Read more about what I have planned in my announcement newsletter and make sure you’re subscribed for updates. Thanks for your kind words of encouragement so far!

When I shared my seasonal recipe ideas last week lots of you were fellow fans of greengages and plums so I thought this recipe would be timely today! Doubly so as today is my birthday so a slice or two of birthday cake is definitely in order.

I love baking with plums: they feel sharp, fresh and vibrant for the new season ahead. This plum, hazelnut and chocolate cake has a delicious mixture of sweet and sour, nutty and fruity flavours that are perfect for early Autumn. To make the cake, you will need:

50g plum, chopped (half a big one)
40g chocolate, chopped
30g hazelnuts, chopped
120g butter
120g caster sugar
120g self-raising flour
2 tbsp milk
2 eggs
For the topping:
10g hazelnuts, chopped
One and a half plums, finely chopped into slices
1 tbsp Demerara sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 160C Fan and grease and line a 20cm round tin.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time with a little flour, then fold in the rest of the flour, plum, chocolate and hazelnuts.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and top with the thinly sliced plums, a sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts and Demerara sugar.

5. Bake for 45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve cold with a cup of tea or warm for pudding with cream or custard!

What are you baking at the moment? Do you have any recipe requests for me?!