Awash in Plums

The harvest has begun. Haphazardly and thank God for grocery stores or it would be a very strange winter ahead. The one fruit tree that was absolutely loaded was the juice plum, I think it may be a Santa Barbara but I’m not an expert. In any event the branches are bent down with fruit and just as they started getting pink I found the deer standing around eyeing them with the same considerate look as me. I hung some sheets on the lower branches and that did the trick. The deer have gone to someone else’s yard and 80% of the tree ripened in 3 days. They are so juicy they can only be eaten over the sink which is fun for one or two but… So I steam them into juice and there is now a gallon in the freezer and 10 pounds of plums making wine in a bucket.

Other than that, there is 5 pounds of rhubarb in the freezer and yesterday the Excalibur 2000 (the dehydrator) came down from the top shelf for the first picking of salal berries. Everything else is hanging back waiting for it to warm up. The slugs are not hanging back and I’ve taken to donning gloves and a flashlight when I let the dog out at 1 am. I go slug hunting while she’s busy and we both go back to bed content.

Plum Coffee Cake

(generously serves 12)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

½ c butter

1 c sugar

2 large eggs

1 ts vanilla

½ c milk

2 c flour

3 ts baking powder

½ ts salt

12 – 24 Italian plums

Topping:

1/3 c flour

½ c sugar

½ ts cinnamon

¼ c butter

For the cake, blend the butter and sugar together until creamy in a mixer or by hand. Add the eggs and vanilla and incorporate. Stir in the milk and then add the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until the batter is smooth.

This is a farm house version so I’m usually trying to use up plums and therefore go with a larger surface area (2 9 inch cake pans) but the original recipe called for a 8 x 12 baking pan.   Either way, pour the batter into a greased pan.  Halve the plums, removing the pit, and place skin side up in the batter. Since I’m trying to use up the fruit I put them as close together as possible but if you don’t have that luxury then try for two plum halves per serving arranged evenly.

For the topping: stir the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, cinnamon. Gently mix in the butter with your fingers until just incorporated and the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the batter. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until a knife comes out clean from the middle.

A note on plums:  Italian plums work for this because they are meatier and don’t have as much liquid (they’re the long, purple ones).  Juicy plums probably won’t work very well.