Friday, September 21, 2012

Treat me: Golden Kiwi Cake

If you think you've had a bad week, spare a thought for New Zealand's kiwifruit growers. A bacterial disease is slowly, insidiously, infecting crops across the country like something out of a horror movie. Every week at the supermarket I think about those growers and how devastating it must be to discover your livelihood is at risk. Then I put a lot of kiwifruit into the trolley. It's the least I can do.


Golden Kiwi Cake
I've used golden kiwifruit in this upside down cake because the green variety go a bit khaki when cooked. The mellow flavour of the golden ones are also more suited to cooking, I think, so save the green ones for eating from the shell like a boiled egg.

8 golden kiwifruit, peeled and sliced into 1cm rounds
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp brown sugar
150g soft butter
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
100g ground almonds
150g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 23cm cake tin - I used a ring tin, but a round tin is fine. If you're using a springform tin, be sure to have a lined tray underneath it in case anything leaks out.
Pour the melted butter into the prepared tin and sprinkle over the brown sugar, then cover with a single layer of sliced kiwifruit. Set aside.
Beat the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the lemon zest. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the ground almonds, then sift over the flour and baking powder. Stir to mix. Pour half of the mixture into the tin, then cover with another layer of kiwifruit. Carefully spread the remainder of the mixture on top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed and a skewer comes out cleanly when plunged into the cake. Let cool for five minutes, then carefully turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Have a good weekend, everyone x Pin It

8 comments:

  1. That looks wonderful. I have never seen golden kiwi before. They certainly make for a beautiful cake. Would love a slice!

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  2. Really beautiful cake. It seems that so many crops are failing all over the world. Here in the uk the apples and pears have some kind of blight too. It's like the end of the world!! My dad has a kiwi plant growing over his swimming pool in California and it always amazes me!

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  3. What a shame for the kiwi growers. I love the way you have decided to use the fruit though, a real triumph through adversity.

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  4. Lovely looking cake. I wish the golden variety were easier to find in the shops here. I know from disappointed experience what you mean about green kiwi fruit when cooked - the colour can be a little sad.

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  5. You are such a sweetheart. I agree with you about the kiwi fruit growers - its such a part of our national culture! This cake looks wonderful, so I am going to make it for the hubby to take into work one day (and hopefully, like you, inspire others to keep supporting the industry). Have a great weekend hon. Becks x

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  6. That looks like such a wonderful and yummy cake. Its hard to find kitchen maids who are good at cooking and baking.

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  7. MY kiwi plant in SW France died this year.....and I have noticed how expensive they have become too, such a shame. LOVELY LOVELY cake though and I would love a slice of that! Karen

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  8. I'm baking this up right now for the first time *fingers crossed* and I'll be taking it into work tomorrow. Here in the states, Costco has been selling these lovely kiwis that I just found out existed about a month ago. I am obsessed with them and take a couple sliced up to work with me for a snack almost every day now. Thanks for the recipe, I hope it turns out!

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Hello - thanks for stopping by. If this was real life I'd make you a cup of tea and open the biscuit tin, but in lieu of those things, let's have a chat anyway...