Feijoa Cake with Crumble Topping

3:10 pm on 23 March 2012

Ready in 1 hour, plus cooling time.

(Serves 8)

Ingredients

Crumble topping

  • 70g standard white flour
  • 80g light brown sugar, sieved
  • ¾ tsp mixed spice
  • 50g unsalted butter, melted
  • 50g slivered almonds

Cake

  • 75g unsalted butter
  • Finely grated zest 2 lemons and 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 4 large feijoas, mashed
  • 140g standard flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 level tsp baking powder
  • 4 medium (size 6) free-range eggs, at room temperature
  • 165g caster sugar
  • icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1 Preheat oven to 180°C (regluar bake). Line base and sides of a 23cm cake tin with baking paper.

2 To make crumble topping, blend flour, sugar and mixed spice in a bowl, squishing any lumps. Pour over melted butter, mix in with a fork, then stir in almonds. Set aside.

3 To make the cake, melt butter gently, then leave to cool. Grate zest from lemons and set aside. Peel and mash banana. Halve feijoas, scoop out flesh and mash. Mix mashed fruit with lemon juice. Sift flour with salt and baking powder onto a piece of paper.

4 Break eggs into a bowl and whisk with an electric beater for 1 minute, then whisk in the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the mixture is pale, thick and mousse-like, and will form a ribbon when the beaters are lifted above the mixture (the mixture should fall off the beaters in a thick trail). Sprinkle the lemon zest over.

5 Sift half the dry ingredients over the egg mixture and fold in lightly with a large spoon. Pour the cooled butter around the sides of the bowl. Fold together gently until just amalgamated. Sieve and fold in the rest of the dry ingredients, then fold in fruit.

6 Pour into prepared tin. Gently scatter the crumble topping over, taking care not to deflate the cake batter. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until cake is springy to the touch, golden and pulling away from sides of the tin. Remove from oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Invert onto a plate, peel off paper if still attached, cover with a cooling rack and turn it right side up again. Leave to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

From Afternoons

Find a Recipe

or browse by title

What's in Season - March

Fruit

Vegetables

Herbs

  • Angelica
  • Basil
  • Borage
  • Chives
  • Dill
  • Horseradish leaves
  • Lemon balm
  • Lovage
  • Nasturtium
  • Marjoram
  • Oregano
  • Sage
  • Salad burnet
  • Savory
  • Thyme
  • Verbena
  • Vietnamese mint