Our part of Australia has just endured one of the hottest January weeks on record – even for mid-summer, 40 degrees+ for 4 days and nights is unusual… clearly not the weather for anything other than sitting about moaning and eating watermelon and icy poles. Mercifully the heatwave has now ended; so it’s safe to venture back into the kitchen and remember where the oven is…first on the list are these delightful little cakes filled with summer’s bounty and iced with the tang of citrus buttercream.
This uncomplicated recipe allows the fruit to be the star, the slight tartness of the plums contrasting perfectly with the sweet and sour flavours of the frosting. Even though the heat has dissipated for now, the fruit in this batter may ferment if left too long in a warm space, therefore, in the unlikely event that you need to store these little jewelled treasures, the refrigerator is the best place.
- 125g unsalted butter
- 150g organic panela (or rapadura sugar)
- 3 eggs (free range if possible)
- finely grated zest of one lemon
- 120g plain yoghurt (I used an organic Greek variety)
- 2 cups finely sliced plums
- 110g white spelt flour, sifted
- 115g organic self raising flour, sifted
- 400g pure icing sugar
- 150g softened unsalted butter
- 40g lemon juice
- Preheat the oven to 175 Celsius fan forced. Grease and flour a 12 cup muffin pan, or line with paper liners.
- Cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until really light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add lemon zest and yoghurt, and then gently fold through the plums.
- Finally add the sifted flours and combine on slow speed.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Cool in the tray for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack to complete the process. Once completely cool, ice the cakes with the buttercream, using a piping bag or a pallette knife.
- Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps.
- Place in mixing bowl with softened butter and combine on medium speed using the paddle blade (or on speed 3-4 in a Thermomix).
- Once the icing sugar and butter are combined, add the lemon juice and continue mixing until desired consistency is achieved.
Oh my they tasted fantastic! Lucky me:)
always happy to have willing testers Jane – thank you!