Summer fruits and veggies are just starting to make their appearance in the grocery stores, and I’m getting so excited for when gardens are in full swing and all of those delicious offerings are coming from local growers.
For Easter with my family, I volunteered (as I normally do) to bring dessert, and as I walked the produce department at my local grocery store, some beautiful, purple plums caught my eye, and I knew what I was going to make.
The cake I made was not only visually appealing, but it was delicious, too, and it wasn’t all that hard to put together. I can’t wait to see how this cake will turn out with plums later this summer when they’ll be even more flavorful.
I found this recipe on the blog “Once Upon a Chef” by Jennifer Segal. You can find it at https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/late-summer-plum-cake.html. I changed up the spices and their amounts in my version to suit what was in my spice cabinet and for a bigger pop of flavor.
Plum Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon all spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk I used skim
- 1 pound plums pitted and quartered
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a nine-inch baking pan and set aside. (I served mine straight out of a nine-inch pie pan. The author suggests using a springform pan.)
- Beat the butter and one cup of sugar for about three minutes.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk, and mix until everything is just combined.
- Pour the batter into your pan and spread it evenly. Placing them skin-side up, place the plums in concentric circles around the pan, leaving a little bit of batter between each.
- Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar all over the top of the cake, and bake for about 60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake part comes out batter free.
- Let the cake cool before slicing and store it in an airtight container.
One of the happy side effects of making this cake was having several plums left over, which our schnauzer, K.C., was extremely happy to help me eat. (Side note: always remove the pits before giving plums to pups.) As a fruit and veggie fan herself, she’s looking forward to more fresh produce coming into the house, too, especially carrots.
Unfortunately for K.C., only the humans got to enjoy the finished cake, though. It got good reviews from my tiny cousins all the way up to the older members of the family.
It will be a great summer recipe to have on hand—as soon as Mother Nature cooperates.
This piece first appeared in print on April 25, 2019.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
