Have you seen versions of this recipe floating around? Cake + pie from the same dough? It sounds complicated and impossible, but ... it isn't either of those things. Voted 'quite tasty' and 'please make this again soon' in our house. Is it healthy? I mean, it is cake, but by upping the fiber with adding some whole grain flour and chopped nuts, and decreasing the sugar, it's a great option for brunch or a weekend breakfast.
The lattice crust on top of the jam can take a little bit of practice. Remember: it does not have to be perfect to be tasty! A few tries, especially with this super forgiving dough, and you'll get it right. If you need a tutorial, this is a good one. That said, remember, it can be fun to play with your food, so don't get to wedded to perfect weaving! We did not end up using all of the strips we had made for the lattice, so baked those with some cinnamon sugar and that was a nice baker's treat!
I made this with some local Passion fruit jam, and then made it again with Bonne Maman's Cherry jam. The key is to use your favorite jam that is not too sweet.
Susie's Pekoe Cake
Yield: one 9-inch cake
Ingredients 2 sticks of softened butter 2/3 cup sugar 1 whole egg 2 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla zest of one lemon 1 yogurt 3 cups flour (can be whole grain, if you’d like) + 1 cup flour 2 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup jam, especially best with tangy jam
Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Grease the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar and whisk until it the mixture is fully combined and fluffy. Add yolk and eggs, each separately and whisk well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and zest. Add yogurt and stir well.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir well with spatula to combine well.
Scoop 3/4 of the batter into the cake pan. Level the batter and then top the batter with the jam. This is easiest with slightly warmed jam, and spooning it all over the batter. Spread the jam evenly. Sprinkle the pecans over the jam; set aside.
With the remaining 1/4 batter, add 1/2 c flour, stirring well. Add up additional flour, 2 T at a time, stirring well, until the dough is firm enough to roll out.
Roll dough out on lightly floured counter, to 1/4 inch think round. Cut 1/2-inch thick strips with a knife. Create a lattice weave on the top of the jam+nuts.
Bake the cake for 55 - 75 minutes, or until the cake feels firm in the middle and the lattice topping starts to brown.
Let cool 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan, transfer to the serving plate.
Enjoy!