Mini Plum Cakes

Plums get a bad rap ’round these parts. They fall low on my stone fruit totem pole, well below peaches and nectarines and cherries and apricots, and even below pluots and apriums and other weird hybrids that derive from the plum. Too often, I’ll bite into a seemingly ripe plum only to recoil in horror, eyes watery and mouth puckering — man, an unripe plum can be tart.

So, rather than get burned twice a hundredth time, I’ve just stayed away. But then there were some very pretty looking plums at the farmer’s market a few weeks ago and I couldn’t resist. And then I kind of forgot about them, and let them languish a bit in my fridge. And then somehow what was supposed to be a quick afternoon snack turned into a perfect afternoon snack: buttery, plush cake enveloped around a tart-sweet plum that softens and becomes jammy in the oven.

I could tell you more about these, but let me just show you instead:

A lid of sliced almonds adds a little crunch, and they bronze beautifully in the oven. Aren’t they so pretty? Is it just me?

Plums are making their final appearance this summer, so don’t miss your chance. Make these beauties before time runs out.

Mini Plum Cakes
Adapted from Baking With Julia, by Julia Child and Dorie Greenspan
Makes 11 mini cakes

– 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature + more for greasing the muffin tin*

– 1/2 cup granulated sugar

– 2 large eggs

– 1 teaspoon vanilla

– 1 cup all-purpose flour

– 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

– 1/4 cup buttermilk (or kefir)

– 3 large ripe plums, pitted and quartered

– 1/2 cup sliced almonds

– raw (turbinado) or brown sugar, for sprinkling

*Pro tip: use the wrapper on the stick of butter to grease the muffin tins.

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter 11 cups of a 12-cup muffin tin.

2) In a large bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer, until the mixture is light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add one egg and beat until just incorporated, then repeat with the second egg. Add the vanilla and beat for 30 seconds more.

3) Remove the mixer from the batter (good way to catch the extra batter that’s on the paddles: run the beaters on high speed in the bowl (but out of the batter) for a few seconds, so that the batter whips off of them. Obviously you should only do this if your mixing bowl is large enough to catch the flying batter. Otherwise, I hope you like cleaning butter and sugar off your kitchen walls). Add the flour and baking soda and with a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients until just incorporated — do not overmix. Stir in the buttermilk until just mixed.

4) Spoon two tablespoons of the batter into each of the muffin wells (you should have enough batter for 11 mini cakes). Press a quarter of a plum in each well, making sure that the plum is embedded into the batter, but is still visible from the top (you’ll have one extra plum piece). Sprinkle sliced almonds and raw sugar over each muffin well.

5) Bake the mini cakes for 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway, until the cakes are golden brown on top. Remove from the oven, and let them cool in the muffin wells for 10 minutes. Then, run a butter knife around the edges of each mini cake to release them. Cool on a wire rack completely before serving.

Notes: if you’re serving these for dessert, a little whipped cream, creme fraiche or ice cream would be delicious. But they’re also excellent in the morning, with a strong cup of coffee and a good book.