Marian Burros Plum Cake a la Chowhound

My Italian plum tree was totally full of fruit. They’ve been dropping on the lawn faster than I could eat them so this morning I went out and nearly stripped the tree bare. Not sure how many pounds but a huge basketful.  Last year, I got almost no plums so I am intent on enjoying the bonanza this year.

I first made some plum and squash chutney, which was to take about 2 hours to cook down.  After it was simmering I started some zucchini relish. (Note the common thread of squash!)  I then started some plums to dry, cutting them in half and pitting them first. By then, I had canned 7 jars of chutney and 7 jars of zucchini relish, plus blanched some celery for the freezer and started a bunch of celery leaves drying.

I was debating about doing some canned plums in syrup but decided to do a dessert for tonight instead. I found this wonderful Plum Cake on Chowhound (a great resource for those who like to cook) and went with that. Wow! And yum!

I love that it is so easy to remember, because I will be baking it often with various fruit I think.

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• juice of half a lemon and some zest if you’d like
• sugar and cinnamon to taste
• 15-16 Italian plums, halved and seeded

Cream the butter and sugar, then mix in the flour and baking powder.  Stir in the eggs.  Spread the batter in a 9″ springform pan. Mix the plum halves with some lemon juice and zest, cinnamon and sugar.  Lay the plums out  skin side down (cut side up).  Then bake at 350 F for an hour or so.

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