Sometimes the late summer bounty can be overwhelming. Take these plums. They come from a tree outside my kitchen (and living room) window. The tree must be 30 years old, at least and no one was around to prune it the last two years (before we moved in). Suffice it to say, the plums have a way of taking over your thoughts. There are plums to harvest, overripe plums to pick up off the ground, puts to find a place for and recipes to be thought of to use them in.

These Italian prune plums are slightly different then the ones I grew up eating as they are rather large. I’m not sure what kind they are, just that they are juicy and delicious and I want to eat them all, but no one wants to eat prune plums all day long just to keep up with their tree. We pick at least 10lbs. each time we harvest and we cannot keep up with it. The plums we pick go bad very quickly and even the kids have gone off them by now. The chickens have been getting a lot of fruit…

Being the sustainable loving, non food wasting person that I am though, I can’t go long without feeling bad about not doing something with these plump and juicy beauties. I had to think of something. Seeing as I already had guest posters provide a recipe for plum pie, and one for plum clafoutis, I had to think of something different. Of course, it had to be somewhat healthy though and it had to use a fair amount of plums. I needed to get rid of about 20 lbs at that point.

So this cake was born out of a desperation to not waste produce, one thing I just cannot stand. If I can’t use it, I try to give it away or at least give it to the chickens. Sometimes our chickens can be mighty picky though, preferring their grain or bugs over any leftover vegetables or fruits. They are little spoiled ladies in there.

This cake takes advantage of summer’s bounty and blends it well with a little hint of spice. I used half whole grain flour to add that healthy kick and then I negated those health benfits by topping the cake with a lovely tart lemon glaze. Perfect for afternoon tea or sharing with friends. I used half coconut oil, because I have some I want to use up, but feel free to use all butter if you don’t care for the flavour of coconut, though it is just a tiny hint and does go well with the other flavours.

One year ago: Granola Bars

Two years ago: Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream

Plum Cake

Yield: One 9 x 13 Cake
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: One hour

15 prune plums, sliced and pitted
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups pastry flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.
2. Beat sugar, butter and coconut oil in a large bowl until creamy and smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. Add the vanilla and the buttermilk and stir to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add to wet and stir until just combined.
5. Spread batter into greased pan, top with sliced plums (push them down slightly into the batter).
6. Bake for one hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature before eating. Top with a lemon glaze if desired or serve with freshly whipped cream.

Lemon Glaze

Yield: 2/3 cup
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: N/A

Juice of two lemons
zest of one lemon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup icing sugar

1. Combine all in a small bowl and use immediately.

Similarly delicious recipes from other fabulous food blogs:

Barley Scones and Roasted Plums from The First Mess
Lemon Plum Sorbet from Taste of Home
Sweet and Tangy Plum Chutney from Sreelu’s Tasty Travels
Plum and Raspberry Gastrique from The Tomato Tart
Christmas Pudding from Making Life Delicious