PLUM AND FRANGIPANE CAKE

Preparation 20 minutes Cooking 40 minutes Makes 20cm cake Plums have a wonderful affinity with almonds, and this cake is so easy to rustle up that there is no excuse not to give it a go. The plums can be substituted with other seasonal stone fruit, such as greengages or apricots, if you prefer.

150g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 125g white spelt flour, plus extra for dusting 150g golden caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 3 medium eggs 125g ground almonds. 1½ tsp baking powder 8 summer plums, such as Victoria or Opal, halved and pitted a little icing sugar, for dusting

1 Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C) gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 20cm round springform cake tin and dust with a little spelt flour. 2 Beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and beat again. Add the eggs one at a time, including a spoonful of the flour with each egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. 3 Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl, then use a large metal spoon or spatula to fold the ingredients together so the mixture is evenly blended. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and gently insert each plum half, cut-side down, around the cake, in concentric circles or whatever pattern you prefer. 4 Bake for 35-40 minutes until the cake is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Recipes extracted from Spelt by Roger Saul with photography by Lara Holmes (Nourish Books, £16.99). To order a copy for the special price of £12.75 including p&p, call 01206 255800, quoting reference SPELT25.