Spiced mascarpone and Autumn Plum Breakfast cake
What makes this a breakfast cake?
Well, let me tell you what because it’s a beautiful thing. This cake is the perfect cake for dunking into your delicious, warm frothy coffee on a chilly autumn morning.
“Dipping cake into coffee, really?” you say. But hear me out.
In England, we mastered the art of dunking our biscuits into our tea long ago, but there is a whole uncharted territory of hot drink and dippable bakes still to explore.
The French are big fans of sticking their croissants in their coffee of a morning. And while I’m not fully convinced the French always make the sexiest food choices (yes I obviously mean frog legs and snails), the croissant dunking is something I have definitely pinched as a frequent favourite.
And once you’ve submerged pastries into coffee, then it’s really only a matter of time before you start thinking about dipping all the other baked goods.
About the Cake
The base of this cake is made with mascarpone which gives it a slightly more robust structure than its buttery rivals. Perfect for soaking up a little coffee goodness, and importantly, means it won’t disintegrate and crumble into your beverage.
It’s lightly spiced with some cardamom and vanilla in the sponge, with cinnamon sugar on top.
The recipe is inspired by one from Skye McAlpine’s Table in Venice cookbook, which features all sorts of deliciously sweet breakfast bakes. One of the things I love about Italy is the breakfast – it seems perfectly okay to have a cake or a tart or a bun with coffee for breakfast.
Plums in early autumn are a true thing of beauty. A seasonal gem that doesn’t get enough air time. The sweet, juicy flesh and those jewel-like colours; the perfect topping for a cake this time of year.
Spiced Mascarpone and Plum Breakfast Cake
Ingredients
165g mascarpone
120g caster sugar
2 Large eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
165g self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cardamom
Topping
5-8 plums depending on size, halved
½ tsp cardamom
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Recipe
Line a 19/20 cms cake tin with baking paper, preheat the oven to 160Ëšc Fan
Beat together the mascarpone, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cardamom and fold into the wet mixture until well combined. Transfer to the prepared tin and arrange fruit on top. Mix together the last spices and sugar and sprinkle over the fruit.
Bake for 45 and check with a metal skewer for doneness- leaving for a little longer until the skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool.
Serve with a big mug of your favourite coffee – mine’s an oat milk flat white!
