A Cake...inspired by a book...received for free...from an awesome foodie book club...celebrating a fellow foodie...could this title be any longer..yup

As a recent participant in the Edible Word, a foodie book club (hosted by Cath of A Blithe Palate and Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness), I was able to obtain an advance copy of Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Plus, Edible Word is pairing with Cook the Books this month....ah, a melding of the minds, a pairing of the passions...wink wink.

Bullock-Prado once lived life in the Hollywood sun...shmoozing...daily interaction with the "beautiful" people...head of a production company (along with her sister...famous sister...recognize the last name?)...constantly having to appear perfect and put up with a**holes. But in the midst of it all, she made shopping shopping lists...baked goodies for friends and loved ones...and dreamed of a more fulfilling lifestyle. So, she finally did something about it. It's not something we can all do...but it's definitely the subject of many a fantasy. She left Tinsel Town and moved to a quirky little town in Vermont where she opened a bakery. In a timely interview with her sister by InStyle magazine where Gesine's macaroons were mentioned, her shop gained instant success (ie...overwhelming amount of orders that you are unprepared to handle.)

My favorite moments in her book were the memories and recipes inspired by thoughts of her mother and grandmother. Did I mention the book includes recipes! In one chapter, she reminisced about Zwetschgendatschi, a German tart she had eaten with her mother every summer. It was her mother's comfort food...and one that Gesine could not bake or even bare to think of after she lost her mother. Until one day. A day when "an older gentleman came into the shop and asked whether (she) could make a dessert he'd had in Germany during the Second World War. He described a sweet, almost shortbready crust lined with elegant, oval plums that he'd never seen outside of Europe. His wife had recently passed away, he was newly retired, and he was now prone to reminiscing. He wanted to treat himself to a past pleasure and bathe himself in memories through that little plum tart." Try as she might to disconnect herself from this tart...to simply make it a process. Do it in a machine, instead of lovingly by hand. Bing...bam...boom. Into the oven. Bake. Done. NOPE! As the smell hit her, so did a wave of emotion. So she made another one...putting the all of the emotion (and probably a few tears and runny nose drips) that she had into baking that tart. Isn't amazing how smell, taste, sound...food!...can invoke such deep emotion. That is one of the reasons I love it.
Another memory was of spending time with her grandmother in Germany. Like many places (aside from here...in the U.S.), people in Germany take a late afternoon break. Sit and enjoy tea, coffee, a bite to eat. I don't want to go on...because I could keep writing, but I should probably let you read the book, but the Apfelkuchen that Gesine's grandma whips up so efficiently reminded me of my own German grandma and I wanted to combine these two parts of the book to make a something that I'd love to sit down and take some time and share with my mom and my grandma.

Plum Cake

inspired by Confections of a Closet Master Baker and this recipe

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)

2 eggs, room temp.

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

couple pinches fine sea salt

4 Blue Sugar Plums

1 1/2 Tbs. Raw Sugar

Freshly Grated Nutmeg- to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until combined. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and add to bowl.

Beat until just combined.
Grease and flour a 9" spring form pan.Pour batter into prepared pan.Next, take your plums and find the "seam"...kind looks like a butt crack. Tee Hee. Run a sharp knife down the seam and around the other side to cut in half. Separate the halves and pop out the pit.Now your plums are ready to add to your batter.Arrange your plums, cut side down, on top of your cake batter. Sprinkle with raw sugar and then grate your nutmeg over the top. I used ~1/4 of a nutmeg...do it to your taste.Place into preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until top is golden and you see edges beginning to pull away from the pan.