Plum Crumble Sheet Cake

A non traditional birthday cake

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Hello, Happy Friday!

What exactly is a birthday cake? I would wager that when you picture a birthday cake, you see a layered affair covered in buttercream, with candles, of course. The question is, why? Why is that the prototype? Why can't a birthday cake be an upside-down cake, a muffin, or even a sticky toffee pudding? As far as I am concerned, a birthday cake can be absolutely anything. If it’s made with love to celebrate someone's birthday, it's a birthday cake. Simple.

But, before we get to today's recipe, just a quick reminder that we are now less than a week away from the publication of my new book, Small Batch Cookies. This also means you have just less than a week to pre-order a copy and enter my huge pre-order giveaway (which you can enter here on Substack or here on Instagram). I am so excited for all of you to finally see the book. I’ve been carrying around a copy for the last couple months, taking it everywhere with me (including on holiday to Crete), and soon it will be your turn to enjoy the book and to bake all of the delicious cookies the book contains. If you're planning on buying the book anyway, pre-ordering a copy before the official release next Thursday really helps give the book a great launch, and it would also make me incredibly grateful. The North American release is in a month on Sept 24th, and I am very excited that I will very soon be announcing a US book tour with a lot of exciting events coming up!

Every year I ask what my boyfriend wants for his birthday cake, and this year I got quite an open brief with just a couple caveats. When I initially asked, his response was ‘No cardamom, no coconut, no cinnamon, actually no spicing whatsoever’. Those guidelines might seem pretty harsh, but Mike is a person that tends to value simplicity in his sweet treats; while I might like to layer in lots of different flavours to make something a little different and, I admit it, sometimes a little over complicated, Mike values the simplicity of a chocolate cake or something fruity; he doesn’t need it to be overcomplicated. When thinking what to make him, I had one additional requirement for the cake: a crumb. Mike loves a crumb, be it on a cake or as part of a dessert; when I am working on a recipe and I’m not 100% happy with it yet, he will often suggest, ‘Why not add a crumb’? Making a crumb cake seemed like an obvious choice.

For the flavours, I wanted to make something incredibly cosy and seasonal, maybe something that can be served with custard. A plum crumb cake with a pecan streusel was what I settled on. The cake element is mad with ground almonds, which makes for a beautifully tender cake. I add a little lemon zest to brighten the cake, but I wouldn’t really describe it as a lemon cake; it's an accent. The cake is then scattered generously with plums and finished with a brown butter pecan streusel. The finished cake is a beautiful snack cake; it needs nothing else and works beautifully on its own, but if you want to serve it as dessert, it is fabulous with a generous serving of custard.