sweet plum cake

i'm back at it with a new late summer // early fall

cake to use up all the delectable fruit that is in

season. last week i welcomed fall with our pear

cake, and this week i had a surplus of amazing

plums ... so i finally made the famous new york

times plum cake! it will become a favorite really

fast. it's beautiful, unique, decadent, and perfect

for a dinner party or just a casual night. and, it's

so simple to put together. this recipe is actually

pretty well-known, and i've read about it in a 

few cookbooks and food blogs. smitten kitchen

posted it most recently, and i had to make it.

it was very first published in the new york times

{my favorite paper} over 30 years ago and continued

to publish every year during plum season for ten years.

when the food editors announced it was time to stop

running it, everyone saved it//laminated it// cut it out

to keep this treasured recipe. just from this history, i

knew that this was a special cake before even making it.

step one: pick up some sweet plums

(or pluots if you have them :)

i did a little bit of a combo here.

next, mix up the batter:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• generous pinch of salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 12 plums, halved and pitted
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 to 2 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling

preheat your oven to 350°F. whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. in another bowl, cream butter + sugar together with a mixer until fluffy and light in color. add in the eggs one at a time and scrape down the bowl, then add the dry ingredients -- mixing until just combined.

spoon batter into a 9-inch pan 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.

bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into a center part of the cake comes out free of batter, about 45 to 50 minutes. cool on a rack.

once it's cool, if you can stand it, leave it covered at room temperature overnight. **this cake is 1000000 times better the next day, as the plum juices release more into the cake and it becomes more flavorful & moist. worth the wait!!

be ready to add this to your 

end-of-september staples!

xo