Nutty black sesame and tangy plums mingle with fragrant maple, orange, and vanilla, creating a striking and delicious cake that’s sure to grab everyone’s attention. What’s more, no one will ever guess that it’s gluten- and dairy-free, and possibly the simplest cake you’ll ever bake. It’s the kind of cake that can be dressed up for dessert with a dollop of softly whipped cream or thick yogurt—if you want to keep things totally dairy-free, it’s lovely with coconut yogurt—or served unadorned alongside morning tea or coffee. This cake also travels well, and can even be eaten without a plate (or fork), making it perfect for picnic season.
This cake can actually be made with any summer fruit or berries you have on hand—that said, I do love the way the crimson plum flesh melds into the black sesame batter. Since there’s no dairy or gluten, you don’t need to worry about properly creaming butter and sugar, or overmixing the batter after adding flour—it truly is foolproof. What’s more, the simple list of ingredients can be memorized and put together anywhere, since no special equipment is required.
A few notes: This cake can be baked in round, square, or rectangular cake or tart pans. Just be sure the pan’s volume is equivalent to about a 9-inch round pan (or not much smaller), as the fruit-topped batter needs a good amount of surface area to cook well. Line any pan you use with a parchment paper overhang of a few inches—this gives a round cake a lovely rustic look and makes the cake easy to lift out.
It’s best to use firm-fleshed plums here, as a super juicy variety would tend to make the batter too wet. The exact baking time ultimately depends on the moisture content of the fruit (it may take an extra 5 to 10 minutes—keep baking it until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean). Since coconut oil solidifies when cool, it’s best to be sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. When it comes to dry ingredients, if you don’t want the pronounced flavor of sesame, or can’t find back sesame seeds, just increase the almond flour to 2½ cups (215 grams). And oat flour can be replaced with brown rice flour, or you can make your own: Grind rolled oats in an electric spice grinder or Vitamix until fine. Sift into a bowl and then measure out the amount needed.
The recipe is from Whole Food Cooking Every Day by Amy Chaplin (Artisan Books). © 2019.
—Amy Chaplin
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