Crumb Cake with Pineapple & Custard

This Sunday in Melbourne is of course Father's Day! We had 15 people over for lunch and i was tasked with making two desserts! The first dessert was easy - the always satisfying torta di chocolate but for the second dessert i wanted to try something a bit different. In my daily perusal of Eats on the iPad app Flipboard, i came across the recipe for a Hazelnut Plum Crumb Cake on Smitten Kitchen. Of course plums aren't in season in Australia at the moment so i opted to make a tweaked pineapple version (also happens to be my dad's favorite fruit).

This cake is similar in ways to the crumbles that we're familiar with here in Australia, except with a base that makes it easily slice-able! And the best part is that the custard is baked IN to the cake so there's no need to dollop it on top! Unless you're feeling extra piggy today.

Ingredients

Crumb

• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 250gm unsalted butter, cubed
• Pinch cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups white flour

Filling

• 1 1/2 400gm tins pineapple rings
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup cream
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch cinnamon
• 1/4 cup milk
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp flour

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 
Grease and line an 8 inch springform tin

Drain the pineapple rings and place on paper towel to draw out excess moisture.
Place the dry crumb ingredients into a food processor and process until well blended.

Add the butter and process until the mixture forms crumbs and begins to come together.

Turn 2/3 of the mixture into the prepared pan and press on bottom and about 5cm up sides to form base.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Once the base is cool, cut the pineapple rings into semi circles and arrange in the base.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, spices and sugar and stir through

add the eggs, cream and milk and stir to make a custard.

Pour over the pineapple rings

Sprinkle over the remaining crumb mixture.

Transfer to the oven for 40-50 minutes or until golden ontop.
Leave to rest for minimum 1 hour before serving hot or cold with a dollop of cream.