Little Jack Horner

Alright. So it's been a little bit of a long farewell with these summertime, hangers-on recipes, but I think this might actually be the last one. I couldn't help myself. The stone fruit farmers just keep bringing these beautiful plums and pluots to market, and the part of me that is only just willing to give up peaches and nectarines is finding comfort in the fact that at least there's something other than apples to put in my shopping bag.

It is no secret, dear reader, that I am a big fan of English cuisine. Yes, I put those two words together and I will not apologize for it. We all know the reputation I'm alluding to.  Let's just put that old assumption to rest, shall we? Some of the best cooking these days is happening in London, and though we can't all take part in that culinary revolution first hand, we can live vicariously through cookbooks.

A lot of the cooking going on in our kitchen this week has been inspired by Nigel Slater's Tender, a combination of uncomplicated recipes and garden journal, charmingly written and dreamily photographed. Fortunately for those of us with a sweet tooth, his follow-up book, Ripe, includes both sweet and savory recipes, including a most delightful recipe for plum cake.

While my usual go-to recipe for plum cake is more in the german style, I find this version to be a refreshing change. The secret is in the Lyle's Golden Syrup. This caramelly stuff reminds me of a combination of corn syrup and maple syrup and can be found in many desserts to be found in Great Britain and the Commonwealth. Fortunately for you, it can also be found in many supermarkets here in the States. It gives this cake a dark, rich, stickiness that melts into the satiny cooked plums that are suspended within. We've been eating this out of hand for breakfast, afternoon snacks, and dessert. It travels very well, which is lucky for the boy. He gets to find it in his lunchbox.

My original intention for this post was to share two desserts: the cake above and this one from the New York Times' Melissa Clark. I made the Plum Chutney Crumb pie about 2 weeks ago to take to an Indian meal and it was spectacular. Being new to the blog thing, I forgot to take photos, and I left the rest of the pie with my hostess. I would have asked her to take a picture of the last handsome slice, but her dog, Lucy, had other ideas, raiding the counter and gobbling that last piece in the dead of night. Bad dog. Good pie.


Plum Cake
adapted from Nigel Slater's Ripe

2 cups (250g) all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cardamom (my addition, because I love it with stone fruit)
2/3 cup Lyle's Golden Syrup
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
12 ounces plums (or pluots)
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9x9 pan with parchment. This is a sticky cake. You'll be glad you did.

Whisk together the flour, leavening, and spices in a mixing bowl.

Warm the butter, honey, and syrup in a small saucepan until butter is melted. Stir in the brown sugar. While the mixture is warming, halve and pit the plums. Quarter them if they are gigantic.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and the eggs. Pour the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon. Add the egg mixture to the batter last, gently whisking until all is incorporated. You will have a pretty runny batter. Pour it into your prepared pan and tuck the plums into the batter.

Bake for 35 minutes, then place a sheet of greased foil loosely over the top of the cake for another 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the cake to sit in the oven for another 15 minutes. My cake took a little longer, so make sure to test with a toothpick and give it another little blast of heat for 10 minutes or so if the center is still squishy.