The plum and hazelnut moelleux, the slice we own.

Plum and Hazelnut Cake: A Guilt-Free Pleasure

Plums are everywhere on Geneva's stalls, purple, almost overripe, the kind that stain your fingers. We're making a cake with them. Not a light version, not a compromise: a truly moist cake, with browned butter, toasted hazelnut powder, and fruit placed on top that melts during baking. The crust is slightly crisp, the inside remains moist. This week, no explanations needed.

In Brief

• Preparation: 20 minutes
• Cooking: 40 minutes
• Serves: 8
• Level: easy

Ingredients

• 400 g plums (quetsche or seasonal prunes), pitted and halved
• 150 g butter
• 100 g light cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons liquid honey
• 3 eggs
• 100 g ground hazelnuts
• 120 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch fleur de sel
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Zest of half a lemon
• 30 g whole hazelnuts, crushed

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C static heat (or 170°C fan-assisted). Melt the butter in a small saucepan and let it brown until it smells like toasted hazelnut, about three minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
2. Whisk the sugar, honey, and eggs until the mixture lightens and almost doubles in volume. Pour in the browned butter in a steady stream, continuing to whisk.
3. Add the ground hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, fleur de sel, and lemon zest. Mix with a spatula, just enough for the batter to be smooth.
4. Pour into a 22 cm springform pan lined with parchment paper. Arrange the plum halves with the cut side facing up, pressing them in slightly. Sprinkle with crushed hazelnuts.
5. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. The cake should be golden and puffed, and a knife inserted between two plums should come out clean. The fruit will have released its juice in small dark puddles.
6. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before unmolding. It slices better and tastes even better warm.

Tip

It keeps for three days under a cake dome and becomes even more tender the next day — the plums continue to flavor the crumb. For a weekend version, serve it warm with a spoonful of whipped plain yogurt and a turn of the long pepper mill: the hot-cold contrast changes everything. And if plums are scarce, figs work just as well, quartered and placed in the same way.

The Right Moment

September is short for plums. In the markets of Plainpalais or Carouge, they arrive at the end of August and disappear with the first chills. Choose them dull, soft to the touch, with the small white bloom on the surface: this is a sign that they haven't been handled too much. Quetsche plums, which are more tart, hold up better to baking than greengages.

This cake makes no apologies for what it is. A slice on Sunday afternoon, another on Monday for breakfast with a strong coffee. That's exactly why we made it.