It's Plum Cake Season!
It's finally here, plum cake season. To some people summer means vacations, long sunny days or casual Fridays at work. One of the things that makes summer for me is plum cake season. WOo HOo!! Years ago my brother gave me a recipe for plum cake. It called for 12 plums pitted and cut into quarters. It was made in a spring foam pan—the ones used to make cheesecake—which I’d have to buy especially for this recipe. Seemed like a lot of effort. So I never made the cake.
Then one summer a friend asked if I’d like some plum from her backyard tree. She had a bumper crop and needed to get rid of bags full. What the heck, sure I’ll take a couple dozen and give this plum cake a try.
What an easy recipe! I whipped up the batter, quartered the plums and stood them on end in the cake. The house filled with the most delicious sweet smell. Cinnamon and almond. Tart plums and sweet cake. It looked picture perfect when it came out of the oven. Gee must’ve done it right.
My boys were happy to have a new dessert to try after dinner. And it was amazing. No. Really. We were all surprised at how tasty it was. It was noteworthy. We wanted to share this discovery with everyone we knew. I asked for more backyard plums and made cake after cake. I gave one to each of our neighbors. I sent one with my husband to work. I took one to choir practice. I froze several for later. It was a sweet season. That was 5 years ago. Now we all wait for plum cake season.
This year looks like another bumper crop. I have five grocery bags full of plums. So far I’ve made 4 cakes and only put a small dent in the first bag of plums. So glad this baby freezes well! I’ve got the recipe memorized by now. Here I’ll share it with you it’s so yummy and easy you should give it a try.
Plum Cake
Butter an 8 or 9 inch springfoam pan
Preheat oven to 375°
Beat together ½ cup softened unsalted butter and 1 cup sugar
Add 2 eggs, one at a time
Mix in 1 tsp each almond and vanilla extracts
Sift together and add 2 cups flours and 4 tsps baking powder
The batter will be stiff but cram it into the prepared pan, smooth with spatulaIt will not seem like enough batter for a cake but it is
Pit and quarter 10 to 12 plums
Stand each plum piece in the batter not touching the edges of the pan or each other
Mix together ½ cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon
Sprinkle evenly over the top of the cakeIt will seem like a lot of sugar topping but use it all, this makes a lovely crust on top
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes till golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean
This cake freezes VERY WELL you can enjoy it in January too!