Plums

Joyous plums!  Could there be any better reason to not fully abandon this blog and to get a new post up?  I didn’t think so!

We have a plum tree and many years production is only so so or not at all, but this year!  This year it’s been spectacular!  We even had to share with the yellow jackets, but we still got plenty. 

We started out just eating them out of hand at the sink, on cereal and yogurt, sliced on break with peanut butter … and I soon realized I was going to have to get more ambitious.  So then I made a Plum Avocado salsa with trout one night.  Yum!  Next I dehydrated a couple trays of plums.  Double Yum!  These are going to be such a good snack on our upcoming backpacking jaunt.  Definitely not the prunes found in the grocery store.

Then this past Saturday I was blessed with a fall rainy day.  I love these days!  These days scream at me - Use the kitchen!  Make yummy food!  Heat up the Oven!  So, I complied…

First there was jam to make.  Just a small batch of refrigerator jam.  That’s what I call it when I make it right, but don’t go through the canning bit.  It’s just meant to last in the fridge for a couple months.  There were a few figs left on the counter, because they are also in season and on sale in the store, so, I made a Plum Fig Jam.  I used honey for the sweetener.   

Mmmm.  That’s it.  Only 4 ingredients: about 4 ½ cups of Plums and Figs, ¼ cup Honey, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice mixed in at the end. 

There is not much more satisfaction to be had then when there are jars filled with jam cooling on the counter.

Next, it was time to eat cake!  I like cake, but my husband is a pie guy, and now that I don’t eat gluten cake is a rarity. But one of my favorites is always a fruit upside down cake.  I’ve made Pear, Fig, Peach, and Apple upside down cakes and I was certain plums would be a good variation.  Also, Upside Down Cake lends itself well to gluten free, because the heartier flavors like buckwheat work well and because it doesn’t need to rise as much.  Now to find a recipe.

I settled on the Plum, Ginger, and Almond Cake from LondonBakes.com.  I did intend to follow the recipe, but then I went off track.  I'm guessing you are NOT surprised...  

First, I was out of buckwheat flour!  What?  How did that happen?  Put it on the grocery list and then think.  Well, Teff flour won’t act exactly like buckwheat flour, but it’s got a great hearty flavor also, so I’ll substitute that and since it’s mixed with almond flour, just maybe, it will work out!  Next, the hubby isn’t as much of a ginger addict as I am so I used much less ginger and added cinnamon and a few grates of nutmeg.  And, as long as I’m already this far off, I like my cakes cooked with the fruit on the bottom, so I melted some butter and maple syrup in the pan while I was heating the oven, placed my fruit over that and poured the cake on top.  It all worked out splendidly.  Ok, I admit that when I flipped the cake over the insides of about ½ of the plums stayed in the pan, but they came out fine with a spoon. 

Below is my version.

Plum Upside Down Cake

1 stick + 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup Coconut sugar
2 Eggs, beaten
75 grams Almond Flour
50 grams Teff Flour
25 grams GF flour blend  *
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
A pinch of salt

Enough halved plums to cover the bottom of your pan (Take out the pits!)
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
A few sliced Almonds

Directions

1. In an 8" square cake pan, put the 1 tablespoon of butter and maple syrup.  Set pan in oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and add the egg.  Beat until smooth.
3. Mix all dry ingredients together and fold into the egg, butter, sugar mixture.
4. Take the preheated cake pan out of the oven.  Mix together the syrup and butter and place plums cut side down. Sprinkle almonds over plums and pour the cake batter on next.
5. Bake cake for 30-45 minutes until firm and golden brown.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes then carefully dump upside down on a plate.

* (I make my own GF blend from America's Test Kitchen The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook)

The flavor was great.  Just as I’d hoped it had a deep plum flavor, just enough spice and a very moist hearty cake.  We ate it as is – no whipped cream needed.  Although I’m sure if I’d had any in the house it would have went well.

The fact that I'm not a very good food photographer is probably one of the reasons I stopped blogging.  Please excuse the  horrible picture of the finished cake.  :)


There's still plums left, but I'm not sure what's next.  Any suggestions?