Every Christmas holidays I try to do a major project either in the studio or with my promotional material. So this year it was time for a website and blog redesign and update. Well to be honest it was long overdue for update, and was getting a bit embarrassing how old some of the images were. So I toiled away over Christmas thinking I could knock the project off in a week, which then became 2 weeks, then 3, and finally 4 weeks before the new website & blog were launched. Don't ask what the problems were, but needless to say there was lots of going round in circles and wheel spinning happening. Check out the redesign at www.motif.co.nz.

To celebrate the launch (finally) I've baked a cake! It's a yum Blood Plum & Blueberry cake with plums & blueberries from my garden. Cooking dishes from produce you've grown in your garden, makes it just that bit more extra special don't you think.

Enjoy!

PLUM & BLUEBERRY CAKE WITH SPICED PLUM COULIS

Adapted from a recipe by Lisa Featherby

INGREDIENTS

Spiced Plum Coulis
6 plums, preferably blood, pitted & diced
⅓ c sugar
1 cinnamon quill
¼ tsp chinese 5 spice
½ c water

Cake
4 eggs, separated
185 gm caster sugar
110 gm plain flour, sieved
80 gm butter, melted
4 tbsp sliced almonds
5 plums, preferably blood, halved & pitted
125 gm fresh blueberries

To Serve
Icing sugar
extra blueberries & almonds
Plum Coulis
whipped cream

Serves: 6 - 8

METHOD

Blood Plum Coulis
Prepare plums and add to a saucepan with remaining ingredients. Cook until plums begin to soften, then puree in a blender till smooth. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Cake
Preheat oven to 160C. Butter a 22cm springform cake tin and line it with baking paper.

Whisk egg yolks and 150gm caster sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale. In a separate bowl whisk egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually add remaining caster sugar and whisk until smooth and tripled in volume.

Fold a third of the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture, gently stir in flour and melted butter, then gently fold in remaining egg white. Scatter almonds over mixture and fold to just combine, then pour batter into prepared tin and smooth top. Gently press plum halves into top, scatter half the blueberries in between and bake until a skewer inserted in the center withdraws clean and cake is golden brown (approx. 40-50 minutes).

Cool briefly in tin, then remove from tin and cool on a wire rack until just warm (30 minutes). Dust with icing sugar, and scatter with remaining blackberries and almonds. Serve with whipped cream and spiced plum coulis.