There's something very special about cooked plums. Raw, plums are fine, although not my favorite fruit by a long shot. But cooked? Plums become a completely different fruit. The flavor intensifies and the texture almost melts. Paired with the right ingredients, plums make spectacular desserts. What's more, lovely plum desserts are perfect for transitioning from summer to fall baking, which makes this week's assigned recipe, Flip Over Plum Cake, very timely.
The Tuesdays With Dorie baking group has baked with plums in the past. In 2009 we made the Dimply Plum Cake, and my I enjoyed the cake so much I actually posted a follow-up to the original post. I couldn't fathom why Dorie would include another plum cake in her book, nor could I imagine how it would be different or that it could be better.
n.o.e.'s notes:
- Becky of Project Domestication chose Flip-Over Plum Cake and will have the recipe on her blog today.
- Dorie says that the cake is a cross between a cake and a pudding. As I was preparing the recipe for this "cake" it reminded me of the southern-type of cobbler - where you make a batter and scatter fruit on the top and as it bakes in the oven, the fruit sinks to the bottom.
- In addition to flour and milk and butter, the batter for this cake is made with ground cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract, almond extract, and a surprise ingredient, ground coriander.
the verdict:
This was an amazing fruit dessert. The plums get jammy and flavorful, and the addition of the spices to the batter elevate this one above the simple cobbler (or cake). It's one of the best fruit desserts in Dorie's book. In fact, we liked this as well, or better, than our old favorite, the dimply plum cake!
8 comments:
Something to try, and I have plums in the house, thanks! It really looks tasty.
It looks very pretty and I love it when you find a dessert that just wows you...when I was growing up we had several plum trees and during plum season, you could always find me selecting the best ones and saving them for snacks...love a ripe juicy plum just oozing with juice and just exactly before the point that it starts to go toward not acceptable for market. There's a skill to picking just the right ones...lol. All your book club members are going to be very sad when TWD ends and you aren't gifting them with fabulous desserts, or will you find additional sources?
I totally agree Nancy - I loved the dimply plum cake, but I thought this was even better! Plums don't excite me at all except when they're baked :)
I loved this cake too Nancy! It was very good and so easy to put together! I loved the buttery crust and the juicy plums! I have only baked with plums since joing TWD! I love it! Your flip over cake looks perfect!
I didn't make the Dimply Plum Cake but we loved this dessert. I had never cooked with plums before so didn't quite know what to expect. I was so happy with the results I'm ready to make it again soon.
Have a great day.
Wow! I skipped this one but I think I'm going to have to go back to it if it's better than the dimply plum cake!
I'm certainly glad that Dorie included this plum cake, too, since the Dimply Plum Cake and I don't get along. =) I agree, I'm so happy that I made this dessert!
I decided not to make this one but now you have me excited about it...must find plums soon!
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