Strawberry Crumble Cake with a Macadamia Nut Crust

The strawberry crumble cake is a dinner party favorite and is best served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or yogurt.

Syrupy strawberries are topped with a layer of light vanilla spongecake. The crumble is a gorgeous mixture of crushed macadamia nuts and Demarara or Turbinado sugar.

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• STRAWBERRY FILLING
• 1.5kgs (3.3lb) of strawberries, washed, hulled & halved
• 110g (1/2 cup) of castor (berry) sugar
• 2 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp of cornflour (starch)
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence
• CRUMBLE TOPPING
• 110g (1/2 cup) of firmly packed brown sugar
• 75g (1/2 cup) of all-purpose flour
• 90 grams (6 1/2 Tbsp) of unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup of macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• 55g (1/4 cup) of Demerara sugar
• CAKE
• 340g (2 1/4 cups) of all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 125 g (8 1/2 Tbsp) of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 275g (1 1/4 cups) of castor sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 3/4 cup of buttermilk
• Vanilla ice-cream for serving
• Serves 8-10

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C).
2. Start by making the filling. Combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, cornflour and vanilla essence in a bowl. Stir gently to combine then let mixture stand for about 30 minutes. After this time, pour the strawberry mixture and all the juices into a large, greased baking dish. Place the dish on a baking sheet and set aside.
3. Make the crumb topping by combining the sugar, flour and butter in a bowl. Rub the ingredients together between your fingers until you form coarse crumbs. Add the macadamia nuts and press mixture into small clumps. Set aside.
4. To make the cake, combine together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk ingredients together. In a separate bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, or for about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs to the butter/sugar mixture, one at a time, beating each egg well before adding the next. Add vanilla essence and mix well to combine. Scrape down the bowl then use a spatula to mix in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk and starting and ending with flour mixture. So add the flour and mix, buttermilk and mix, flour and mix, buttermilk and mix, flour and mix.
6. Spoon batter evenly over filling and sprinkle with macadamia crumb topping. Sprinkle the crumble topping with the Demerara sugar. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the strawberries are bubbling and the crumb topping is golden. Remove from oven and cool slightly for about 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.