Suddenly, the scent of plums
on a mountain path:
sunrise!
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Plums are in! I’ve got to agree with the delightful Basho haiku above. Plums are all good things–even sunrises.
As you know if you read this blog, I love stone fruits. Plums and cherries are my favorites.
Beyond their sweet and tart flavor, plums are downright healthy. According to WebMD, eating plums can help you heal, slow bone loss and address anxiety. What’s not to love about this fruit?
Over time, I’ve written a number of posts here about stone fruit recipes. Here are some links:Blue Cayenne Plum Recipes. Pictured below is a photo of Marian Burros’ famous plum tort and a photo of a plum cobbler. The recipes for both these desserts can be accessed through the preceeding link or by typing in plums on Blue Cayenne’s search box.
This recipe is adapted from the recipe for Yossy Arefi’s Cherry and Poppy Seed Yogurt Cake in her wonderful cookbook Sweeter Off The Vine. You can find her cookbook at your local bookstore or on Amazon here.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Plum Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
- For the Streusel
- 1/4 C. all purpose flour
- 2 T. uncooked oats
- 2 T. granulated sugar
- 2 t. poppy seeds
- Pinch of salt
- 2 T. unsalted butter (room temperature)
- For the Cake
- 1 1/2 C. all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 t. baking powder
- 2 T. poppy seeds
- 1/2 t. salt
- 3/4 C. granulated sugar
- 1/2 C. grapeseed (or canola) oil
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 C. plain yogurt
- 1/4 C. freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 limes (for zest)
- 1 1/2 C. chopped plums
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan by buttering and flouring it.
- Step 2 Make the streusel. Stir flour, oats, sugar, poppy seeds and salt together in a small bowl. Work the softened butter into the flour mixture with your fingers. Set aside.
- Step 3 To make the cake, whisk flour, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt together. Set aside.
- Step 4 In a large bowl, mix sugar and lime zest. Mix the sugar and zest with your fingers until the lime zest is fragrant and is well-incorporated into the sugar. Add oil, eggs, yogurt and lime juice to the sugar mixture and whisk. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture all at once and mix to combine.
- Step 5 Fold in half of the plums.
- Step 6 Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining chopped plums on top of the batter. Sprinkle the streusel mixture on top of the batter.
- Step 7 Bake cake for about 50 minutes. The internal temperature of the cake should be about 210 degrees F. when the cake is done. The top of the cake should spring back when you push on it and a toothpick inserted in the top of the cake should come out clean.
- Step 8 Let the cake rest on the counter until it is cool before cutting. This recipe makes a very moist cake. I found it was better on day 2 after baking.
- Step 9 Cook’s Note: Here is an interesting piece from King Arthur Baking about determining cake doneness: King Arthur Baking.
