Plums, they are the very embodiment of here today and gone tomorrow. The whole year is no plums, no plums, no plums, then you get a brief interlude of almost plums, then it’s basically plums for about 4 seconds then it back to no plums again.
So, whilst they are here – if indeed they are still here wherever here is for you and if not file this one away for next year’s plums – let’s make sure we honour them with a recipe, not least because when they do all arrive all at once it’s good to have a few ideas to help you use them up.
I very often fall back on a basic sponge, I mean, the kids like a cake, everyone else seems to like a cake and it’s always good to have a bit of fruit inside your cake so that you can pretend it is in some way an allowable treat, despite all the sugar and butter.
Rich and aromatic plums that are properly ripe, not like those weird red golf balls you get at the supermarket with state on the pack “ripen at home” which proceed to remain rock hard for a month before going mouldy, are the very essence of deep and complex in terms of flavour, almost on the edge of fermenting by the time they are full to bursting with that delicious nectar like juice that dribbles down your chin as you sink your teeth in – balancing that needs dark brown sugar and a kick of spice, so here I’ve used all spice (no, not mixed spice, bear with me here it really works) and as it’s me I’ve gone for wholemeal flour and some ground almonds to help it feel more wholesome and taste way more interesting as well as the wholemeal flour helping things stand up to all that lovely juicy flesh we will incorporate in our cake.
Shall we begin?
Ingredients
- 200g salted butter
- 200 g dark brown soft sugar
- 3 whole eggs
- 150g self-raising wholemeal flour
- 50g ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 level teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon demerara sugar to sprinkle over the top before baking
- 8 plums
Method
- Split your plums in half in the usual way and discard the stones. Sprinkle a pinch of the dark brown sugar and another good pinch of the allspice over these and gently toss them in a bowl, set them aside and get on with making the sponge mix.
- Line a 20cm x 30 cm x 4 cm baking tray with non-stick baking parchment and lightly brush it with melted butter.
- In a mixing machine with the K beater attached, mix the butter, sugar and allspice until you get a nicely creamed smooth mixture – it is worth taking your time over this and also worth having the butter at room temperature before you start. Stop the machine occasionally and scrape down the sides to ensure you are mixing all the butter and all the sugar – you should eventually end up with a really smooth and light mixture.
- Break your eggs and lightly beat them in a jug before adding them a little at a time to the butter and sugar mix – allowing each addition to emulsify and become one with the rest of the ingredients – repeat this process until all the egg is incorporated and then add the almonds and mix again until smooth, switch off the machine.
- Now add the flour to the machine bowl and then briefly mix that in with the machine on slow adding the tablespoon of milk to help things along. As soon as everything is nicely mixed, stop the machine and scoop all the mixture out into the tray.
- Pre heat the ESSE top oven to 160 degrees, and close the steam vent.
- Place the halved plums in two rows down the cake tin and push them in so they are almost, but not quite submerged. Sprinkle each plum with a little demerara sugar and then scatter any remaining sugar over the top as evenly as possible.
- Place the cake in the oven to bake, opening the steam vent after the first ten minutes and cooking for approximately 40 mins. Test the sponge in the usual way to ensure it is fully cooked before you remove it from the oven. Allow the bake to cool a little in the tray before lifting it out and onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
I love this cake with some thick natural yoghurt, but cream is good as well, of course if it’s warm still then ice cream might make a nice addition and make it more of a dessert.
Recipe created by Tim Maddams. Tim is a chef, food writer and cookery teacher who produces seasonal recipes for ESSE at his home in Inverness using ingredients grown in his kitchen garden. ESSE first met Tim over ten years ago when he regularly co-featured in the hit TV series River Cottage. During his time as head chef at River Cottage Tim pioneered ethical, local, seasonal produce and became a key spokesperson in the area of responsibly-sourced food.
Tim’s aim is to show off the “tremendous versatility” of the ESSE 600 X electric range cooker. The new 600 X has ESSE’s classic heat storage construction, patented ovens, beautiful colour finishes and the reassuring ‘solidity’ with modern, electric controllability and responsiveness.
