Roberta's Plum Cake
1 stick margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
12 purple plums
Lemon juice [or vanilla]
Cinnamon and sugar mixture
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9" baking dish. Slice plums and mix with lemon juice [or vanilla] and cinnamon mixture.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, then dry ingredients. Spread batter in prepared pan, place plums on top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour -- check at 45 min.
I often make other recipes for plum cake and similar cake with other fruit. In August when I was in Virginia and also in 2007, I made my mother's recipe. My sister made a friend's recipe in 2008. For related recipes see: More on Plums, Elaine's Plum Cake, Polish Peach and Apricot Cake from a New Cookbook, and Plum Cake
Roberta emailed the following addendum:
ReplyDeleteAdorable plums in your photo! Actually it's Marion Burros' recipe from the NYTimes, and Phil's Aunt Shayna gave me the photocopy of the Times article. I don't mix the lemon juice or cinnamon/sugar with the plums. I just sprinkle them on at the end after arranging the plums prettily I also don't slice the plums, I just halve and de-pit and place them skin side up. If I use regular plums instead of prune plums I do slice, or really, sixth them. My other advice is not to use a mixer on the batter. Phil's aunts do, and it comes out like cakemix: way too airy. I leave the butter out overnight so it's easy to cream (and the eggs, too, if I remember) and then mix til everything is blended but not more than that. That keeps the texture dense. You probably do it right instinctively!