Almond nut torte with quark, peaches and plums...& my blogiversary winner

Ingredients

ALMOND NUT TORTE with QUARK, PEACHES & PLUMS:

• 1 1/4 caster sugar
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar or 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100g almonds, with skins
• 200ml cream
• 250g quark, recipe follows
• 1 tsp gelatin
• 1/4-1/2 cup vanilla sugar/castor sugar, to taste
• 2 peaches, peeled and sliced
• 7-8 plums , 4-5 peeled and chopped, 2-3 sliced
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp for glazePeach-rosemary jam/or any preserve

Homemade Quark (Curd Cheese):

• 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
• 3 1/2 cups full cream milk

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Preparation

• ALMOND NUT TORTE with QUARK, PEACHES & PLUMS:
  
  Preheat the oven to 180C. Line, grease and dust with flour the bottom and sides of an 8" springform round tin.
  Sift the flour, baking powder & salt. Keep aside.
  Run the almonds in a coffee grinder with 1 tsp of sugar. Do it in short bursts so that it doesn't turn into paste. Reserve.
  Beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar/vanilla extract for 5-7 minutes, until thick and creamy and the mixture leaves a trail when the beaters are lifted up. An electric whisk works best here.
• Fold in the flour mix lightly with a wooden spoon, followed by the ground nuts. Turn into the prepare tin & bake for about 30 minutes/until done.
  Remove from tin after 5 minutes and cool on rack.
  
  Quark cream:
  
  Take 1/4 cup of cream, sprinkle with 1 tsp gelatin. Place over a bowl of hot water until the mixture becomes clear & the gelatin has blended completely.
  
• In another big bowl, beat the quark until smooth, about 1/2 a minute. Add the remianing cream & sugar & beat well again. the cream should be rather thick. Taste and adjust sugar if required. Add the gelatin mixture by passing it through a small sieve over the creamed mixture. Whisk well again to incorporate.
  
  To assemble:
  
  Cut the sponge into two layers. Divide the jam into 2 and spread over both the inside faces of the sponge.
  Place the bottom layer on a platter & place the ring of the springform tin around it. Line the sides of the tin with parchment paper.
• Spread the chopped plums around the base layer, & top with about half of the quark. Smooth out, & place the other layer, jam side down on top. Spread & smoothen the remaining quark mixture on top. Decorate the top with slices of peeld peaches and unpeeld plums. Chill for 30 minutes and then drizzle a sieved peach jam glaze over the top.
  Chill for at least 4-5 hours or overnight.
  
• Homemade Quark (Curd Cheese):
  
  If your milk is not pasteurised you should bring it to the boil, then allow it to cool to room temperature.
  Stir the buttermilk into the milk in a container you can cover.
• Put the container in a warm place. Allow the culture to proceed for -24 hours, or until the curds and whey separate. At first the milk will look grainy, and eventually the curds will float on the whey. The grainy stage is probably sufficient, but might give a lower yield.
  Dampen a clean tea towel and use it to line a sieve. Place the sieve over a basin. Pour the curds and whey into the strainer.
• Bring the tea towel together so that it covers your quark and do it up with a rubber band. Place the entire draining apparatus in the fridge.
  Allow to drain in the fridge overnight, or for 24 hours. The drained quark should have a consistency similar to sour cream, but it has a more sour taste.