Melissa Delport’s cherry and orange crumble cake

Everyone wants to be able to have their cake and eat it. With this recipe, you have found just that. It has the ultimate satisfaction that comes with a moist, rich cake and all the benefits of sweetness that come when baking fruits, especially cherries. I hope that you will give it a go and substitute your refined sugary standard cakes with a cake of this nature. After all, celebrating without guilt is utter magic!

Serves: 6

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Baking Time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

FILLING

500 grams fresh cherries, pitted

1 tablespoon orange zest

25 grams coconut sugar

CRUMBLE

35 grams wholemeal spelt flour

25 grams coconut sugar

½ teaspoon salt

40 grams ghee or butter, cold and diced into cubes

50 grams raw walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

DOUGH

125 grams ghee or butter

110 grams demerara sugar or unrefined brown sugar

2 eggs or vegan egg replacement

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

85 grams wholemeal spelt flour

85 grams spelt flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Grease a 15 cm cake tin with coconut oil or ghee.

For the filling, mix together the cherries, orange zest and coconut sugar in a bowl and set aside.

For the crumble, place all the ingredients, except the walnuts, into a food processor and pulse until a coarse crumb has formed. Add the nuts and pulse once or twice to combine. Transfer the crumble to a bowl and pop it into the fridge until you need it.

Now it’s time to make the dough. Whisk together the ghee or butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs (or egg replacement), one at a time, and whisk until just combined. Add the vanilla paste, black pepper, flours, baking powder and salt and whisk until combined. Don’t over work the dough.

Spoon the dough into the cake tin and even out the surface with a spatula. Spread the cherry filling evenly onto the dough. Sprinkle the crumble on top of the filling, making sure everything is evenly covered.

Pop the cake onto the middle rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour. It is ready when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. If the crumble darkens too quickly, slightly reduce the heat in your oven and keep an eye on it.

Once ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully in the tin before gently removing the cake. Serve with extra fresh cherries, if desired.

Also read: Melissa Delport’s mushroom and pearl barley salad