Here’s another often-used recipe from my old Joy of Cooking, that makes use of whatever summer fruit is ripe. It’s sweet and moist, but light enough for a summer dessert. I guess you could add ice cream or whipped cream, but I like the pastry as is. It’s a kind of upside down cobbler with a cakier dough, where you push sliced fruit into the batter, then sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar topping to bake. If your fruit is ripe and juicy, the cake takes on the color of the juice, so today’s is a lovely purple. My husband will be less than thrilled about the cinnamon, but whipped cream will help him get over that.
I could have sworn I took a photo of the sliced plums, but my phone says otherwise.
Plum Cake Cockaigne
Preheat oven to 425°
4-5 ripe black plums or your favorite stone fruit, sliced—you may want to pare some fruits, like apples or even peaches
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
milk to make 1/2 cup of liquids
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted
- Cut butter into dry ingredients.
- Whisk egg and vanilla in measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1/2 cup of liquid.
- Stir into dry ingredients and butter to make a stiff dough.
- Spread the dough in a 9″ square baking dish. You do not need to butter the dish.
- Press fruit slices into dough in any pattern, covering all the dough.
- Sprinkle mixture of 1 cup sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter over fruit.
- Bake at 425° for 25 minutes until fruit juices are bubbling.
- Serve warm or cold (but better warm) alone or with whipped cream.
I think this would be good with dark cherries, but I wouldn’t want to do the pitting.
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