Moelleux à la rhubarbe et fraise

This moelleux cake is nothing like the similarly named moelleux au chocolat, or chocolate lava cake. It is a gooey, slightly nutty, cake that really lets whatever fruit you add shine. This is the type of dessert that is perfect to serve to company in the summer as it comes together very easily but will no doubt impress. It doesn’t need any special equipment so would be the perfect cake to make at the cottage after stopping at a farm stand to stock up on local fruit. It is very adaptable, play around with the types of fruit and use whatever is in season. The inspiration for this recipe called for apricot halves which are delicious but not always easy to find outside of Europe. I’ve made this recipe with plums, peaches, and pears, all to great success. If allergies are a concern, then you can leave out the almond flour and just replace it with equal quantities of all-purpose flour.

Serves 9

500g fruit such as Rhubarb and Strawberries
3/4 cup + 1tbsp // 165g sugar
1/2 cup // 65g all-purpose flour
Scant 1/2 cup // 50g almond flour
1/2 cup // 115g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp // 5ml vanilla
1 tsp // 5g baking powder
2 large eggs
Butter and raw sugar for greasing the parchment paper

Preheat oven to 180c fan/ 350f

Wash the fruit, then roughly chop the rhubarb. Remove the stem from the strawberries and cut them in half. Set aside.

Cut a piece of parchment paper to completely line an 8x8 baking dish. Scrunch the paper up into a ball, then smooth it out. It should now be easy to manipulate. Liberally butter the paper, form it into the dish, then sprinkle with coarse raw sugar.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flours, butter, vanilla, baking powder, and eggs until it makes a rough mix. There should still be streaks of butter going through the batter. Add in the fruit and mix to combine.

Add mixture to the prepared dish, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the top is slightly crisp and a toothpick comes out clean after poking it.

Best served warm out of the oven, but still delicious at room temperature.