plum cake

[42itous]

I've had a handful of requests for this recipe recently, so I'm posting it here where I can link to it.

PLUM CAKE

[I usually double the recipe and use a 9x13 pan. Also, I've gotten good results using other kinds of fruit: peaches, blueberries, apples.]

1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons melted butter
15-18 Italian blue plums (also called "prune plums")
cinnamon-sugar mixture

Cut the plums in half and lay them face-down on paper towels to soak up some of their juice. Butter and flour a 9x9 baking dish. Preheat oven to 375.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg and add the sugar.
Mix the baking powder into the flour.
Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk to the bowl.
Add vanilla and butter.
Pour the batter into the pan.

Set the plum halves into the batter on edge, so they stand up in tightly packed rows. The batter will rise up around them as it bakes.
Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar on top.
Bake for a while (here the original recipe says 30-40 minutes, but I've needed 50-60 minutes, so who knows?) until it looks like it's not raw in the middle.

Comments

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Zwetschgenkuchen!!!!!

(Although I make mine with a pareve cookie dough -- just flour, sugar, eggs, margarine, and a splash of vanilla -- no baking powder or milk in mine.) I was going to bake them yesterday for Rosh Ha-shanah but ran out of time, so I'm making mine tonight.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I had to ask whether the meal was going to be milchig or fleischig -- if it had been fleischig I would have used canola oil and tea instead of butter and milk. Does baking powder have a non-pareve property that I don't know about?

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

No, but my family's tradition is for a cookie dough rather than a cake dough.

I also parbake the crust and macerate the plums before arranging them in the crust --- this maximizes the juices (you blot them?!) while keeping the crust crisp.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I guess cookie dough can handle a lot of extra juices, but my cake gets about as much boiling juice as it can handle on its surface and still have its wonderful crunchy cinnamon crust. Sounds like our baked goods are cousins, not siblings. :)

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

Tea?

[42itous.livejournal.com]

If I have to leave the milk out of a recipe for whatever reason, I like to replace it with some liquid that has more flavor than just water. Of course almond milk is an option if I happen to have it, but mostly I don't, so tea is my usual go-to. It'll change the flavor of the recipe a bit, but it can be fun to experiment with various different teas: English Breakfast? Almond? Chamomile? Bengal Spice? Ginger?