Purple Plum Cake

Cakes & Cupcakes
September 10, 2014
Cakes & Cupcakes
September 10, 2014

Purple Plum Cake

September 8th, 2014, I, Sarah Fennel, quit my job. Reasons aside, I have a feeling it will be one of the

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Purple Plum Cake

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September 8th, 2014, I, Sarah Fennel, quit my job.

Reasons aside, I have a feeling it will be one of the best decisions I ever make. And what am I doing, you ask? Freelance photography (hit me UP, Michigan!), a little bit of yoga, and a whole lot of working on Broma Bakery full time.

Yes, you heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. It’s official. Tell everyone you know. (Well maybe not everyone. It’s not like the checkout person at Whole Foods is going to care. But she should.) As you can see, the past two days have been spent working on this nifty new site. I’ve still got some work to do, but frankly I’m so excited I couldn’t wait another day to show you guys.

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In more news, I’m out of my less-than-mediocre third floor apartment and into a beautiful downtown loft with the BF. We have exposed brick, a skylight, and most importantly a dishwasher. He’s doing his thing with medical school, and I’m happily drowning my camera and myself in flour.

So what better way to kick off Broma 5.0 (because I’ve definitely apologized to my blog here and here and here) than with this Purple Plum Cake. Amelia P. Morris of Bon Appétempt says it’s the best cake she’s ever put on her blog. Smitten Kitchen says “the batter seems so simple that you might have understandable doubts about the greatness of this cake.” And it’s been published in the New York Times every year between 1983 and 1995. So I just had to try it out for myself. And man, is it delicious.

There’s something to be said about sweet and tart. The plums I got at the farmer’s market this morning were not juicy ripe, but I think it actually made the cake better because their tartness is a beautiful balance to the simple sweetness of the cake. And the lemon gives it that bit of acidity that just about everything benefits from. It’s pretty perfect.

So that’s where I’m at, and I cannot wait. In the words of our family friends’ toddler Cole, “Here we go-ho-ho!”

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Print

Purple Plum Torte

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
  • Large pinch of salt
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar plus 1 to 2 tablespoon
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 12 small purple Italian purple plums, halved and pitted (I used 6 larger ones)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

    1. Heat over to 350°F. Sift or whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until fluffy and light in color. Add the eggs, one at a time and scraping down the bowl, then the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
    2. Spoon batter into an ungreased 9-inch springform pan (but if you’re worried, you can always lightly coat it first with butter or a nonstick spray) and smooth the top. Arrange the plums, skin side up, all over the batter, covering it. Sprinkle the top with lemon juice, then cinnamon, then remaining sugar.
    3. Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into a center part of the cake comes out free of batter (but of course not plum juice), about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on rack.

Recipe from Bon Appétempt

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  1. Just put this in the oven. I was so glad to find a recipe to put the last of my grandfather’s Italian prunes to good use. Now, I just hope it looks half as pretty as yours!