Make this quick and easy snack/dessert cake using your favourite fruit. It is delicious with plums or apples but you could also use apricots, raspberries, or rhubarb!
One of my favourite fruits to bake with would have to be plums. We have a blood plum tree that treats us to sweet juicy plums with a gorgeous dark red flesh. Come summer when it’s really too hot to be baking I’ll still be in the kitchen whipping up some yummy plum treats. My favourites are these Plum Muffins, this wonderful Plum Torte, and of course this delicious Plum Crumble.
Last year the tree was so loaded with fruit we were struggling to keep up. There are only so many you can eat fresh off the tree and lots of plum desserts are bad for the waistline! So I decided to try freezing some, and I was so glad I did. I froze about 3kg of chopped plums which has meant that all through winter we’ve been enjoying our favourite plum recipes!
When I saw this apple slice recipe I immediately thought of the plums in the freezer. However I have made a couple of adjustments to the recipe so I have called my version a cake rather than a slice.
Just as I’d hoped the plums turned out wonderful with this cake. The sweetness of the cake and the tartness of the plums just seem to work so well! I can’t wait to try this cake with fresh plums in summer!
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and I’m pretty sure this cake would be great with any fruit. Tinned apple works just fine, I used a 400g tin of pink lady apples and the cake was delightful! The original slice recipe used raw apples, and I am sure that would also work just fine with this recipe.
I’m keen to try it with apricots, I think either tinned or fresh, would work well. As would summer berries like raspberries or blueberries. Maybe even rhubarb or peaches – the possibilities are endless actually!
This recipe is great as a snack cake but it can also double as a dessert cake. Try adding some whipped cream to make it feel really indulgent! Or if you warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds and then top it with a scoop of ice cream you’ll be in heaven! Trust me I know from experience!
- 400g of chopped fruit of choice (can be fresh, frozen, or tinned)*
- 2 cups of self raising flour
- ½ cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 125g of melted butter
- ⅓ cup of milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 – 2 tablespoons of extra sugar for sprinkling on top (optional) **
- Line a 20cm x 30cm (8 x 12 inch) rectangular slice tin with baking paper and preheat oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
- Place the flour, sugar, and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the fruit and stir to coat.
- Now add in the butter, milk, egg, and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
- Press mixture into prepared tin and sprinkle with extra sugar if using.
- Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester/toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in tin completely before removing and slicing. ***
** I have made it without the extra sugar and it is still very nice!
***Cake firms up and is less likely to crack when removing from the tin if it is cold. However if you are like me and you can’t wait that long cut some while still in the tin and serve!
(Nutritional information calculated using apple as the added fruit.)
I can’t make this as have no idea what amount 400 g or 1.2 g listed for both fruit and butter
means. In America, we use a set of dry meaure cups and wet measure cups, as well as a set of
measuring spoons and a scale using ounces and pounds.
Hi Virginia, it is common to weigh out some of our ingredients in grams here in Australia so I often omit the cup or spoon measurement. I’ll have to get into the habit of adding both! Anyway for this recipe your would need 3 – 3.5 cups of chopped fruit and half a cup of butter. I hope this helps!
Virginia,
There are plenty of conversation tables on Pinterest.
Yes great suggestion Pamela, and even google is good for some basic conversions!
That is hilarious! I am married to an American and lived there for 10 years. Love the place but glad to be back in Australia. I still can’t believe they are the only country not using the metric system and don’t realise that.
Oh yes I’m so glad we use a mix of cups and grams here in Australia. I much prefer using grams as it saves up on washing measuring cups!
and digital scales will switch between imperial and metric measurements – hello!
Just type Conversions into your search engine. You should be able to find conversions for most things. Good luck.
Wow
Loved it hot out of the oven.
Definitely one I’ll make over and over.
Really glad you liked it Fleur, I’ll be making this one quite often too!
I have not baked anything for years now but I decided to use your recipe to bake an Apple cake today because of its simplicity.
It turn out so beautifully!! I didn’t add the optional amount of sugar as I did not want it to be sweet. The sweetness of the apples more than made up for it!
Served with Vanilla Ice-cream while it was still a little warm from the oven, it was heavenly!
My guests simply love it!! The entire tray was gone after they went for seconds! Will definitely try with plums or peaches next!! Thank you Kaylene for the simple recipe that turns out simply gorgeous!!
So glad that you and your guests liked it! My favourite fruit to add is plums but I want to try peaches as well!
This cake looks delicious and so versatile! Can it be made gluten free? If so, what changes would need to be made to the recipe? Thanks.
Hi Sharon, I’m sure that you could make a gluten free version of this cake quite easily. The main ingredient to change would be the self raising flour. You would have to substitute that for gluten free self raising flour. I haven’t used gluten free flour myself but I believe that you can substitute it cup for cup with regular SR flour. As for the other ingredients they should be okay. Most vanilla extract should be gluten free, mine states that it is on the label. I would just check that your ground cinnamon is gluten free, or grind your own from cinnamon sticks. Also just be mindful if you use tinned fruit that it too may contain some gluten in any thickener. I hope this helps you Sharon, and that you enjoy this cake!
This was amazing made with half frozen raspberries and half apples. We’re in the middle of Coronavirus lockdown and I needed a recipe that didn’t use up too many eggs and could get rid of some of the spare fruit lurking in the house. Cheered us up! Great cake – possibly a new favourite. Thank you.
Glad to hear that you liked it Gillian, I just made an apple version of this cake today too!
Hi have you used feijoas as a fruit in this cake
Keen to know if there are recipes for this fruit
Do you have an easy fruit sponge recipe as well
Feijoas in New Zealand are abundant as in season
Appreciate this and thnks
Hi Ngaire, I haven’t ever baked with feijoas so I don’t know how they would go in this cake. The best suggestion that I have is to check out the ‘eatwell’ New Zealand website that have a section on baking with feijoas. Here is the link: https://www.eatwell.co.nz/collections/1296/Baking-with-feijoa/
I hope this helps.
If it works with apples, it will totally work with feijoas…or a mix of the two.
Thanks for the info David!
Kaylene,
I discovered your easy “few” ingredient recipes on Pinterest today!! I have not yet had the opportunity to try any of them, but are definitely on my to do list!! : ) I bookmarked your website, and followed you on Pinterest!!
I am a huge fan of the British Bake Off Show and other non-American baking/cooking shows and recipes!! I have noticed American baking/cooking is so different than the rest of the world! I chuckled at the comment about how we Americans are the only country that doesn’t use the metric system and don’t even realize it! LOL 🙂
I’m so excited to try these “new to me” recipes that tend to enhance the natural flavors of the ingredients such as fruits, meats, etc used in baking/cooking!!
My taste buds cant wait!! : )
Hi Shari, I’m a big fan of the British Bake Off too, I especially love the technical challenges and like to have a go myself sometimes. I love baking/cooking but am not great with really fiddly recipes. So mine tend to have few ingredients and/or they are quicke and easy. I agree American baking can be different to English/Australian baking – I’m always being told that my scones are biscuits!
I do like trying American recipes though, I only found out a couple of years ago that I quite like pumpkin pie. It sounded strange as an idea but I tried it anyway and was pleasantly surprised!
I love how we can share recipes with the rest of the world though blogs and Pinterest!
Stay safe and I hope you do enjoy my recipes!