Chris gave us a 10 litre bucket of plums. Once the urchins had eaten their fill, there were still heaps left over.
I remember my Nana making a plum pie / tart, so after looking on the internet, I found one that looked similar.
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/10/purple-plum-torte
The recipe didn't have any spices in the cake, only on top, so I made a change here and there to the recipe.
8-10 plums, halved and pitted (the ones we had were about the size of an egg)
100gm butter softened
3/4 cup sugar plus extra for topping (see below)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon / ginger / or anise powder or 1/2 tsp clove powder
1 to 1&1/2 Tablespoon Sugar (depending on sweetness of plums) for the top.
1 teaspoon cinnamon (extra)
Pre heat oven to 180°C.
Line a 20-23 cm springform tin with baking paper.
Cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar
together until light and fluffy.
Add the
eggs, one at a time and scraping down the bowl,
Sift in the dry ingredients including the spice, mixing until just combined.
Spoon batter into an 20-23 cm springform tin and smooth the top with the back of the spoon.
Arrange the plums, skin side up, all over the
batter, covering it.
Sprinkle the top with extra cinnamon,
then remaining sugar.
Bake until cake is golden, about 35 - 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool on rack.
This pie/torte/cake tastes much better the next day, so I make 2. One to enjoy straight away, and one to enjoy the next night (and it used up about 20 plums in the process)
