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Plum Cake

This luscious cake showcases briefly-in-season Italian prune plums.
Course Dessert
Servings 8

Equipment

  • 9-inch springform pan

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, beaten lightly
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • zest of half a lemon
  • 2-1/2 pounds Italian prune plums, cut in half, stoned, then each half cut into four wedges (do not peel)

For the topping:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten lightly
  • 1-1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400º F. Oil the pan and set it aside. Prepare the fruit. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, lightly measure out the sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir it with a fork to blend. Add the vanilla, oil, eggs, and milk, and stir with a whisk just until everything is well blended.
  • Quickly add the lemon juice and lemon zest and stir again. Add the plum slices all at once. Mix everything together well.
  • Pour the plum mixture into the springform pan. Make sure the fruit is evenly distributed. Set the pan in the center of the oven and bake it until it is lightly golden and slightly firm. This should take about 25 minutes, unless you have my scarily fast oven.
  • Prepare the topping right after you place the pan in the oven. Beat the egg and add the sugar. Melt the butter separately. Once the butter is melting, move the pan off heat and let it stand on the stove. It will finish melting and then will not overheat—the idea is to have butter melted enough to pour into the egg-sugar mix but not so blazing hot that it cooks the egg on contact. When you are a couple of minutes away from checking the cake’s doneness, then pour the butter into the egg and sugar and stir thoroughly.
  • When the cake is light gold and a little firm, remove it from the oven and set it on the counter or stovetop. Immediately pour the topping all over. Spread it around a bit—the center of the cake will be a bit higher, so, yes, the topping will run downhill. Don’t worry. Put the cake straight back in the oven. Bake it until the top is deep golden brown. When you press it with your fingers, it will feel very firm. This should take about 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Take out the cake and set it on a rack. After 15 minutes, run a knife around the edge; then unhook the springform pan’s side. Leave the cake on the base, allowing it to cool to room temperature. It is then ready to serve.

Kitchen Notes

Do not use any other kind of plums for this recipe. Prune plums are relatively low in moisture. Any other plum will be far too wet for this—the batter will refuse to set and it will be a grim disaster. One day you’ll look back on it and laugh, but today, not so much.
But you can try other fruits. This recipe does lend itself well to other fruits. Of course, the original recipe called for “baking apples.” If you can track down any heirloom russet apples, that will be the best apple cake you will ever have. But if you don’t want to take out a second mortgage just for your simple, homey dessert, try a mix of McIntosh and Jonagolds, or McIntosh and Golden Delicious. Up the amount of lemon juice and zest a bit, too, and peel the fruit in the prep stage. Bosc pears also are very nice in this recipe—in that case, omit the cinnamon and try ground coriander instead.
Don’t leave this out on the counter overnight. Any uneaten portions should be refrigerated.