Plum & Almond Crumble Slices

The September letter of the month for Alpha Bakes is 'P' and what better 'P' than plums. Plums are decliciously juicy and perfectly in season. I love nothing better than stewing plums and eating them as they are or adding them on top of porridge. It's a plum crumble slice too which has a really autumnal feel; as the nights draw in thoughts turn to warm puddings and espcially crumbles...or maybe that's just me always thinking of puddings! :-)

This is quite an interesting bake it's got an almondy, buttery, sugary, floury base which is baked on it's own for 20 minutes. Once golden an almond, sugar and butter paste is spread over the top to give a soft layer which the plums sit on top off. The paste also has eggs, cinnamon, baking powder and a small amount of flour. This is then baked again for 20 minutes.

The final step is to sprinkle over a crumble topping and flaked almonds. Then it's a final 20 minutes in the oven. The bake cools in the tin before slicing. If you decide to make this one, I found I pretty much had to make my own crumble topping from scratch. The recipe suggests reserving a few tablespoons of the almond, sugar and buter mix before making the paste layer. However, I was quite literal and did 3 tablespoons (a few) and found that this wasn't nearly enough, it was also quite soft and unlike crumble due to the amount of butter. I did put it in the fridge but it wasn't quite how I wanted it, so I made a small amount of regular crumble topping and sprinkled that on top instead.

Overall, this was a really tasty bake. The plums were lovely and sweet and gave you a real hit of flavour when you bit into it. The biscuity base, the soft almond paste and the crumbly top also provide a real contrast in textures and the plum and almond combination married together really well. I know that some people when they make crumble at home add ground or flaked almonds to their crumble mixture which I think would work really well in a plum crumble. The cinnamon in this bake also adds a little somthing extra.

The randomly selected letter from AlphaBakes for September was 'P' so these Plum and Almond Crumble slices are my entry. This month's host of AlphaBakes is Caroline from Caroline Makes. Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker hosts on alternate months.

Finally, this is the perfect recipe for 'Simple and in Season'. This month it's hosted by Katie at Feeding Boys and a Firefighter The home of Simple and in Season is Fabulicious Food. Plums are at their peak right now and really make me think of late summer/autumn.

Ingredients

250g cold butter
225g caster sugar
300g almonds
140g plain flour, plus 25g
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
6 plums cut into sixths
50g flaked almonds

Heat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4 and then prepare you're tin which should be 20 x 30cm, although mine wasn't quite this size. Butter and line it with baking paper.

Use a food processor to whizz together the butter, sugar and ground almonds, you should end up with rough breadcrumbs. Place half of this mixture into another bowl and then add 140g flour to the half that is still in the processor, if you whizz it, it should form a dough. This dough forms the base of the back, so tip it into the tin and press down with the back of a spoon until level. Then pop this base in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden. The set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

A filling then goes on top of the base. To make this take the remaining butter, sugar and almond mixture and tip it back into the processor but reserve a few tablespoons for the topping. Add 25g flour, eggs, cinnamon and baking powder and then whizz. This should form a soft batter which you can then spread over the base.

Finally, top this mixture with the plum slices and then sprinkle with a little caster sugar and cinnamon. Bake this for about 20 minutes before sprinkling with the reserved crumble mix and flaked almonds. Then there's a final bake for another 20 minutes until the whole bake is golden. Cool in the tin and then slice.

If you wish to make your own crumble topping for the last step there are plenty of recipes online.

* Recipe adapted from BBC GoodFood