Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman
Alison Roman shares her Torn Plum Browned-Butter Cake recipe from her new book, Nothing Fancy.
Photography: Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott
A spread from Alison Roman’s new cookbook Nothing Fancy, published in Australia by Hardie Grant and available now. Photo –Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott.
A master of effortless and casually thrown together cooking, New York-based cook and best-selling author Alison Roman’s new book, Nothing Fancy, celebrates simple, no-fuss recipes.
The focus is on food that people actually want (think DIY martini bar, platters of tomatoes, pots of coconut-braised chicken and chickpeas, pans of lemony turmeric tea cake). Alison is a firm believer that every night of the week is one worth celebrating, and we couldn’t agree more.
While we’re all spending time perfecting our culinary skills this Easter long-weekend, we thought it was the perfect occasion to share Alison’s Torn Plum Browned-Butter Cake recipe from Nothing Fancy… the perfect delicious feel-good project this weekend!
Alison Roman’s Torn Plum Browned-Butter Cake from her new book Nothing Fancy, the perfect Easter long weekend recipe. Photo –Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott.
A snapshot from Alison Roman’s new cookbook Nothing Fancy, published in Australia by Hardie Grant and available now. Photo –Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott.
Torn Plum Browned-Butter Cake
Serves 6–8
Ingredients
185 g (6½ oz/¾ cup) unsalted butter
75 g (2½ oz/¾ cup) almond flour
75 g (2½ oz/½ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
155 g (51/2 oz/1¼ cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, plus extra for dusting
5 large egg whites
90 g (3 oz/¼ cup) honey
750 g (1 lb 10 oz) plums, pitted and torn or cut into bite-sized pieces (see Note)
55 g (2 oz/¼ cup) raw (demerara) sugar
NOTE I have a fondness for plums because their colour speaks to my soul, especially when baked as they get all jammy and tie-dyed looking. But you can feel good about using any excruciatingly ripe stonefruit, berries or pears you can get your hands on.
If you are a fan of summer desserts, you may be familiar with Marian Burros’s famous ‘Plum Torte’, first published in the New York Times in 1983. Her dessert and this cake both feature plums sunken into a batter and baked, but they are very different. For anyone keeping track, the batter here, featuring egg whites, browned butter and almond flour, is more ‘financier’ (chewy, dense, buttery, nutty) than a ‘torte’ (which has a more straight forward pound cake texture). Both are excellent and should coexist in your summer baking repertoire.
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Spray a 2 litre (68 fl oz/ 8 cup) baking dish or 20–23 cm (8–9 inch) cake tin with non-stick cooking spray. Line with baking paper, if you like.
Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until melted and starting to foam and brown, 3–4 minutes; whisk occasionally so the solids don’t stick to the bottom. Leave to cool.
Whisk the flours, salt and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the egg whites and honey, and whisk to blend until no lumps remain.
Using a spatula, gently fold in the browned butter.
Pour the batter into the prepared dish. Scatter the plums over, making sure they’re evenly distributed (whether the torn sides are up or down doesn’t matter). Sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake, rotating the cake once, until the edge is deeply browned for 35–40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before cutting into whatever shapes your heart desires.
DO AHEAD Cake can be baked up to 3 days ahead, wrapped tightly and stored at room temperature.
New York Times best-selling author Alison Roman in her Brooklyn kitchen. Photo – Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott.
Alison Roman’s new cookbook Nothing Fancy, published in Australia by Hardie Grant and available now. Photo –Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott.
This is an edited extract from Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman published by Hardie Grant Books $45.00 and is available where all good books are sold.