One of the delights of summer. Italian prune plums are, I dare say, superior to all other plums. The small egg-shaped fruit has blue to purple bloom-covered skin and amber flesh that separates easily from the pit. Compared to other plums, the flesh is sweeter and less juicy, and the skin isn't nearly as sour. They're great for eating fresh and also perfect for baking. And fear not—fresh Italian prune plums bear no resemblance to dried.
It seemed natural to pair our Italian plums, from the little tree in our garden, with some fruity olive oil we brought back from Italy.
Plum Honey-Olive Oil Cake
Printable Recipe
Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup honey, preferably orange blossom honey
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk
8 Italian prune plums, halved and pitted
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Whisk in the honey until thoroughly combined and then whisk in the olive oil and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then ½ of the milk, then 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the remaining ½ of the milk, and then the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture, whisking for only a few seconds after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix. Transfer to the cake pan and arrange the plums cut side down over the batter. Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cake start to shrink away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Run a paring knife around the inside of the cake pan, invert onto a cooling rack, and finish cooling completely. Cut into portions and serve.
Makes 1 9-inch cake, serving 8. The honey in the batter will cause the cake to brown quickly. The batter is relatively thin, and the plums will fall to the bottom of the cake as it bakes, so the cake is most attractive served upside down. This cake is effortless to whip up and yet loaded with flavor. It stays moist longer than most and may be even better the day after it's baked.
6 comments:
Delicious! Your husband generously shared a bite with me!
Sadly, my Italian prune plum tree this year only gave me a single, lonely plum. But last year, it generously produced about 20 dozen - way more than I could eat, although I did down several a day. I actually oven dried lots of them ( cut in half, cut side up, low oven overnight) and they were fabulous. I'll never think of "prunes" the same way!
Cooking with Michele,
Our little tree only gave half a dozen plums this year. Hopefully next year the harvest will be much better for both of us!
Oh you are making me wish my new plum tree was at the fruit bearing age. This looks wonderful. I guess I could cheat and go pick up a few at the market. Looks so dense and delicious!
Any recommendations for a substitute for people who can't get Italian Plums, just use regular plums?
avaserfi,
Other varieties of plums would be good. So would apricots, peaches, nectarines, or cherries. I'd quarter the fruit if it's large.
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