Plum and almond crumble slice

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons. I like that it's the season of change and preparation for winter. I also love autumnal foods so I was quite excited to see the Autumnal Baking Challenge hosted by Kate of What Kate Baked . I decided to make this amazing recipe which I got from... BBC Good Food (no surprise there!) It turned out even better than I expected and everyone really enjoyed it. The biscuit base is really soft and crumbly and you can definitely taste the butter that went in there! The plums lend a nice tartness and the almonds balance it out with a lovely crunch. I think this would work well with apples, pears or even rhubarb. 

 making the base

 add the filling

 top with plums 

 and almonds and bake

 delicious! 

250g butter (must be very cold)

225 caster sugar

300g ground almonds

140g plain flour, plus 25g 

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon baking powder

approx 6 plums, stoned and cut into sixths

50g flaked almonds

• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line a 20 x 30cm baking tin with baking paper. Put the butter, sugar and ground almonds into a food processor, then pulse until the mixture resembles very rough breadcrumbs. Spoon out half the mix into a bowl and set aside.
• Add 140g flour into the mix in the processor and whizz until it just forms a dough. Tip into the tin and press down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden. Leave to cool for 10 mins.
• To make the filling, put the remaining butter and the sugar and almond mix back into the processor, saving a few tbsp for the topping. Add the eggs, the 25g flour, cinnamon and baking powder and whizz to a soft batter. Spread over the base.
• Top with the plum pieces and a little extra caster sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 20 mins, then sprinkle with the remaining crumble mix and flaked almonds. Cook for another 20 mins or until golden. Leave to cool in the tin before slicing.