This cake is perfect as a delicate and light finale to a dinner, served with vanilla ice cream. Change the fruit if desired; berries or apricot would also work well.
45g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup (about 70g) whole hazelnuts or whole almonds
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
3 large egg whites
¼ tsp salt
2 medium plums, thinly sliced
1½ tsp plain sugar
icing sugar, for dusting
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Butter and flour a 20cm round cake tin, knocking out the excess flour.
2. In a small saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat  and leave to cool. Stir in the vanilla.
3. In a food processor blend together the nuts, brown sugar and flour until the nuts are finely ground.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt until they hold stiff peaks, then fold in the nut mixture, gently but thoroughly. Fold in the butter mixture (the batter will deflate). Spread the batter in the prepared tin.
5. Arrange the plum slices evenly over the batter and sprinkle with the sugar.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Turn the cake out onto a rack and cool, plum side up, for 5 minutes.
7. Sift icing sugar over cooled cake before serving.
Makes a 20cm cake
Copyright line Reproduced with permission from Sweet: Treats to Share. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $45.00. Copyright recipe © Annabelle White, 2014. Copyright photography © Annabelle White, 2014. Available nationwide
