Roasted Grape Cake

, from Issue #71. March, 2017
Photography by Josh Griggs .
Roasted Grape Cake

Use this recipe as a base for lots of other fresh fruit; diced figs, apricots, plums and nectarines as well as cherries are all delicious. Top the icing with roasted sliced almonds if you don’t make the roasted grapes.  

INGREDIENTS

150 grams butter, at room temperature
175 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
3 large eggs, size 7
70 grams ground almonds
115 grams brown rice flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
⅓ cup mashed very ripe banana
finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
1½ cups red seedless grapes, halved
Icing
¾ cup icing sugar, sifted
lemon juice
Roasted Grapes, recipe below


Roasted Grapes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
500 grams seedless red grapes

METHOD

Grease a 20cm cake tin and line fully with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan bake.

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well mixed.

Combine the almonds, rice flour, salt, baking powder and the mixed spice. Add to the butter mixture along with the banana and the lemon zest and juice and beat gently to combine. 

Fold in the grapes, tip into the tin and smooth the top.

Bake for 35–40 minutes or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely in the tin. 

Icing: Combine the icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make a smooth, thick but pourable icing. Drizzle over the cake then top with the roasted grapes before the icing fully sets. 


Roasted Grapes

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake. 

Stir the sugar, honey and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Cut the grapes into small clusters and add to the bowl along with any loose grapes and gently turn to coat. 

Tip into a baking dish, scraping in the sugary juices and roast for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until some of the grapes have started to pop open. Cool.