062 / 75 · Sweet things worth the space
Roasted Grape and Black Pepper Almond Skillet Cake
1 low 23 cm cake, cut into 8 wedges · Active 35 min · Cook 1 hr · Total 3 hr 50 min
Print recipe · PDFRoasting the grapes first gives them a concentrated flavor and keeps their juice from flooding an almond batter. Black pepper is the small unexpected note. This is a low cake with fruit across the surface, not an iced layer cake to assemble in the host kitchen.
Use the roasting juices
All the measured grapes and their thickened tray juices go into the cake. Roasting takes away some water; it does not create a separate syrup ingredient. Scrape the tray well, but leave no burnt black patches in the fruit.
Pepper belongs in the crumb
Mix the pepper with the flour so it is evenly distributed. A coarse last-minute scatter would give a few guests a much sharper mouthful. The almond content makes a tender cake; wait until it is cold before dividing it for transport.
Ingredients
- 300 g seedless grapes, washed, dried and halved lengthways
- 100 g fine sugar:20 g for grapes and 80 g for batter
- 10 ml neutral oil for grapes
- 90 g unsalted butter:5 g for pan and 85 g melted into batter
- 90 g all-purpose flour
- 80 g ground almonds
- 5 g baking powder
- 2 g fine salt
- 1 g finely ground black pepper
- 150 g beaten egg without shell
- 100 g plain yogurt made with pasteurized milk
Set out
Oven, 30×20 cm rimmed roasting tray, 23 cm ovenproof skillet, with a flat cooking base at least 20 cm across, sides at least 4 cm deep and measured capacity at least 1.5 L, Oven mitts for the skillet handle, Baking paper, Digital scales, Two bowls and whisk, Food thermometer, Rack, Knife and cake lifter, Rigid carrier and ice-packed cooler
Allergens
Milk, Egg, Wheat, Tree nuts (almonds). Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Toss grapes with 20 g sugar and 10 ml oil on the roasting tray. Roast 18–20 minutes, until soft with thickened juices. During that time, line the skillet base with paper and grease the base and sides with 5 g butter.
- Reduce the oven to 350°F (180°C). Mix flour, almonds, baking powder, salt and pepper. In another bowl whisk the remaining 80 g sugar, egg, yogurt and 85 g melted butter. Fold in the dry mixture without tasting raw batter.
- Spread all the batter in the prepared skillet. Distribute all the warm roasted grapes and their thickened juices over the top. Do not add unlisted fresh grapes or dusting sugar.
- Bake 35–40 minutes, until the cake center springs back and a skewer has baked crumbs rather than wet batter. Check the center is thoroughly baked, about 200°F (93°C). Extend baking if needed.
- Cool the skillet on a rack for 20 minutes, keeping its handle protected from accidental touch. Refrigerate promptly for at least 2 hours to 40°F (4°C) or below. Cover once cold. Loosen the cold cake, slide it onto a fitted board, remove the paper and cut 8 equal wedges, keeping them in their circle.
Bring it
Carry the eight cold wedges in a rigid fitted carrier, with the grapes uppermost. Use a cake board so moving the soft cake never requires lifting it by its fruit surface. Keep at 40°F (4°C) or colder in an ice-packed cooler and at the gathering. Count all time out of cold control during packing, transport and display together: no more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C).
Finish at the gathering
Ready to serve cold or after a brief temper within the controlled service clock. Bring a cake lifter and eight forks; no host oven or icing is needed.
Make it yours
Use it for an all-year supper club or a birthday lunch. At a winter games evening, the peppered almond crumb gives a warming flavor without changing the eight-piece yield.
Ingredient labels
Check ground-almond processing labels for other nuts and peanuts. The batter contains wheat even if a particular almond meal is labeled gluten free.
A useful detail
The 230-minute plan allows 20 minutes for preparation, 20 roasting, 5 to lower the oven and assemble, 40 cake baking, 20 cooling, 120 chilling and 5 cutting. Batter mixing overlaps grape roasting. The stated 60-minute cook time is the two oven stages together.
Another way
- Replace 300 g grapes with 300 g washed blueberries and roast only 10–15 minutes until their juices thicken; use all the cooked fruit and juice.
- For a gentler pepper note, use 0.5 g pepper and add 0.5 g flour; retain the same almond and fruit amounts.
Keep it well
Keep the fruit-topped cake covered at 40°F (4°C) or below for up to 3 days. Refrigerate within 2 hours of baking, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C). Freeze wrapped cold wedges for up to 1 month for quality and thaw in the refrigerator.