Rustic Plum Cake
A easy-to-make plum cake recipe with a hefty plum presence, using ground almonds in the batter, for a moist, rich cake that was strong enough to hold the plums aloft. For this plum cake recipe, the plums are poached in jam and brandy to brighten their flavor and keep them moist.
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons red currant jelly or seedless raspberry jam
3 tablespoons brandy
All your box plums, halved and pitted
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces), plus additional for dusting pan
¾ cup sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
⅓ cup slivered almonds (1 1/2 ounces)
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Confectioners' sugar for serving
Directions:
Recipe Notes: If using smaller plums, halving and floating them in the batter works great. If the plums are bigger, try slicing them thinly, poaching the slices in the brandy-jam mixture, and arranging slightly overlapped in two rings over surface of cake. Blanched whole almonds can be used but must be processed 30 seconds longer until finely ground. The brandy can be omitted, but then you will need to melt the jam with 1 tablespoon water before adding the plums. Don’t add the leftover plum cooking liquid to the cake before baking; reserve it and serve with the finished cake or over ice cream. The cake can also be served with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Cook jam and brandy in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until reduced to thick syrup, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and place plums cut-side down in syrup. Return skillet to medium heat and cook until plums shed their juices and thick syrup is again formed, about 5 minutes, shaking pan to prevent plums from sticking. Cool plums in pan, about 20 minutes.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9-inch springform pan. Process sugar and almonds in food processor until nuts are finely ground, about 1 minute. Add flour, baking powder, and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse sand, about ten 1-second pulses. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and process until smooth, about 5 seconds, scraping bowl once if needed (batter will be very thick and heavy).
Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Stir plums to coat with syrup. Arrange plum halves, skin-side down, evenly over surface of batter. Bake until cake is golden brown and wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 40 to 50 minutes. Run paring knife around sides of cake to loosen. Cool in pan on wire rack until just warm or to room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Cut into wedges and serve.
Recipe Source: Cooks Illustrated