Plum Crazy

The plum has never been my favorite fruit. To be brutally honest, it's never even made the top ten. But yesterday I made a dessert that's given me to consider that the humble plum has been seriously underrated, by me as well as a lot of other "I can take 'em or leave 'em" plum people I know. (Come on, tell me you didn't think 'prunes' as soon as I mentioned plums.)

While I do have fond memories of eating the tiny, sweet plums that grew wild in the Georgia of my childhood (and I'm not entirely sure how much the memory is flavored with nostalgia), in my adult life there's only one plum concoction I've fancied enough to go out of my way for. That would be the delightful pflaumenkuchen, (a German plum tart, and why can't they just say so?), baked only in August, when plums are at their peak, by Thee's Continental Bakery in the Los Angeles Farmer's Market. It's delicious, it's inexpensive, and, best of all, I don't have to spend an afternoon in the kitchen to have one; all qualities that have made it the late summer 'go to' dessert in our household.

So, invited to foodie friends' home for dinner on Saturday -- the kind of meal where you don't dare show up with store-bought anything, no matter how artisan -- and having volunteered to bring a fresh fruit dessert, my first thought was to try and duplicate the pastry whose name I'll never be able to pronounce. Searching for a suitable, doable, not too complicated substitute, I stumbled across this recipe in Ina Graten's "Barefoot in Paris" cookbook. (Thanks, Mimi). Now Ina is a total domestic goddess and wouldn't steer me wrong, but, being me, I tinkered with it a bit.

Here's what I came up with. It's an awesome recipe, easy, showy, and unbelievably good; an absolutely perfect summer dessert. I'm plum crazy over it. Serves six, but four of us ate most of it in one sitting, and then fought over the last piece.

Ina called it Plum Cake "Tatin." I call it...

PLUM UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature (plus extra for greasing dish)
8 to 10 plums, cut in half and pitted
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup water
2 extra-large or 3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose four
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9 or 10 inch deep-dish glass pie dish, (a 9 or 10 inch square glass baking dish would work too), and arrange plums in the dish, cut side down. Plums should be ripe but still firm. Too soft plums make a mushy cake. The small, purple prune plums work best, but I used a bigger, round plum for the cake pictured -- 'cause that's what they had at The Farmer's Market that day.

Combine 1 cup of the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color (about 350 on a candy thermometer). Swirl the pan, do not stir. Pour evenly over the plums.

Cream the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.

Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. NOTE: I suggest sitting the dish on a baking sheet before putting it in the oven. Mine cooked over a bit and made a real mess!

Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it on to of the cake. Serve warm, at room temperature or refrigerated. (It's so good it doesn't matter!) Delicious plain, gussied up with a dusting of Confectioners' sugar just before serving, and/or with a dollop of creme fraiche (my favorite) or whipped cream.