“This is like a bakewell tart without the crusty bottom. You can use almost any seasonal, soft-set jam with the fresh fruit to match: raspberry jam with whole fresh raspberries; pear jam with sliced pear. I like cooking with jams and other preserves, it’s not just for toast.”
– Kylee Newton, Preserver, London
Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS
150g ground almonds
150g self-raising flour
150g granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
150g softened unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
3 medium eggs
180ml apricot & almond jam (see recipe)
2 small apricots
A handful of flaked almonds
Icing sugar, to dust
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°Cfan/Gas4. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin with butter, and line the bottom with baking paper.
In a mixer, combine the ground almonds, flour, sugar and salt with the softened butter and eggs until mixed thoroughly. The cake mixture should be quite stiff, not runny and loose.
Spoon half of the mixture into the greased tin and spread evenly across the bottom, then spoon the jam evenly over the first layer of cake mixture.
Wash, stone and dice the apricots into 1cm chunks and place them evenly over the layer of jam. Spoon over the remaining mixture, carefully spreading it out (use a spatula if this helps) so that it covers the jam and fruit completely.
Press the flaked almonds onto the top of the final layer. Place the cake into the hot oven for 40 minutes.
Check the cake is cooked thoroughly by poking a skewer into the middle and checking the mixture is no longer wet.
Take the cake from the oven and remove from the tin straight away. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
Eat warm with mascarpone mixed with a teaspoon of caster sugar and some lemon zest. Or cold with a scoop of ice cream.
