Gloverly Cupcakes

I love baking with plums, they are such an amazing colour and once cooked they are jammy, sharp and sweet all at the same time. Definitely one of my favourite fruits to eat and to bake with. So if you’re looking for a recipe to use up some plums, click here to keep reading and try this one out.

We adapted a recipe from the Sainsbury’s magazine that used raspberries and instead used plums. The original recipe can be found here.

For the base and topping

250g plain flour

75g light brown sugar

50g ground almonds

150g soft unsalted butter, plus extra to grease

For the plum layer

150g plums finely chopped

150g sugar

150g plums sliced for decorating the top

For the almond sponge

150g soft unsalted butter

150g caster sugar

4 large eggs

125g ground almonds

125g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp almond extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm x 30cm traybake tin with baking paper.

For the base, put the flour, brown sugar, ground almonds and soft butter in a food processor, with a good pinch of salt. Whiz to a crumb-like texture (you can also rub this together by hand). Tip into the traybake tin and press down firmly using the back of a dessert spoon. Bake for 12-15 minutes until pale golden and firm to the touch. Set aside and cool fully.

For the plum jam layer, add the finely chopped plums to a pan with the sugar, heat gently till the sugar dissolves, increase the heat and boil for a few minutes till the mixture looks nice and jammy. Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow dish to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Spread this over the cooled base.

For the sponge, cream the butter, sugar and a pinch of salt together until pale and fluffy, using an electric mixer. Add the remaining ingredients and beat together for another 2 minutes. Spoon into the tin and spread out with a spatula. Arrange the sliced plums on top in a pretty pattern and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown, a skewer comes out cleanly when inserted in the middle and the sponge is firm to the touch. Cool in the tin. Cut into fingers to serve.