Dorie's Dimply Plum Cake

Plums are good.
Having never baked with them before, I instantly wanted to bake this cake the first time I saw it. The Man was suspicious of it, but I knew it would be yummy. It is a Dorie Greenspan recipe, after all. And I trust Dorie. :)

The cake is very easy to make, the longest part is always the actual bake time which in this case is 40 minutes. This cake is very moist and has a fantastic flavor! I was hoping that the plums would have given it something special, but they were just plums. The Man isn't fond of them, but he happily ate the surrounding cake. I'm thinking of making another, but next time I will slightly cook the plums in a brown sugar/butter mixture, sort of like I did for the peaches in my Rum Spiked Peach Cobbler. This will make the plums sweeter (mine were a bit tart), and give the whole cake more flavor.


As you can tell, my cake didn't really come out 'dimpled', the plums pretty much got swallowed by it and one is completely submerged. This is actually more than fine with me cause when I first saw the dimples of this cake it reminded me of the Surinam Toad.
Haha, sorry if that ruins your appetite. :)

Dimply Plum Cake-
(From Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan;Serves 8)
Prep: 10 minutes  Bake: 40 minutes

1½ cups all purpose four
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cardamom - I used cinnamon
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
Grated zest of one lemon - Didn't have any, so left it out.
1½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
8 purple or red plums, halved and pitted

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8x8 baking dish or a glass pie plate and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter with the brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture. Pour the batter in the prepared dish, smooth the top and arrange the plums on top, cut side up.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.


Tips:
   * I don't have any because I didn't run into any problems! This is a very easy recipe that really anybody could make! Like I said next time I'll cook the plums in sugar before adding to the cake. Once I make it that way I'll post the recipe :)


Mmmm, Plums!  :)