Plum, Orange & Cardamom Cake with Brown Sugar Crème Fraiche

Sometimes, all I want is a fresh piece of cake. Warm from the oven is best. Light as air and packed with buttery vanilla flavour. This cake is just that. A very simple cake recipe that you can whip up really easily. The added cardamom, ginger and orange just hum in the background, creating a wonderfully fragrant slice. Fresh plums are arranged on top before a sprinkling of pistachios adorns the top. Once its cooled, I like to dust it with a little icing sugar and serve it with a dollop of crème fraiche which has been slightly sweetened with some brown sugar. The slight tang works really well against the sweet, soft, warm sponge.

Ingredients - Makes one 8-inch cake
150g caster sugar
75g soft light brown sugar
225g unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
225g eggs (approx. 4 large eggs)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom, freshly ground preferred
1/4 tsp ground ginger
225g self-raising flour
splash of milk
3-4 plums, de-stoned and sliced
a handful of chopped pistachios

Brown Sugar Crème Fraiche:
300g crème fraiche
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
icing sugar, to garnish

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 160°C. Grease and line an 8-inch cake tin with butter and baking parchment.

For the cake; cream together the sugars, butter, vanilla and orange zest until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, mix together the cardamom, ginger, salt and self-raising flour. Fold the dry ingredients into the creamed butter. Just before all the ingredients have been incorporated, add a splash of milk and finish mixing.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth into an even layer. Arrange the slices of plum on top of the cake batter and sprinkle over a handful of pistachios. Bake for 45 mins or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin before removing and placing onto a serving plate. Once completely cool, dust with a little icing sugar.

To serve, mix the crème fraiche, vanilla and brown sugar together. Serve a slice of fresh cake with a dollop of the brown sugar crème fraiche on top.