Well, hello there! It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? Life for this retired doc has turned out to be very busy – so much for my worries about being bored. I turn around and find it’s been 6 months since I’ve posted on the blog! But this cake and this recipe have me itching to share, and make for a perfect re-entry post.
It all started when I told my writing group about our local fishmonger, who each week, along with the menu of offerings at the truck, sends out a poem!
That led our group leader to remind us of that great theater classic Cyrano de Bergerac –
The poet-fishmonger begs a memory from Act II of the great theater classic Cyrano de Bergerac (1897) by Edmond Rostand. In it Rostand gives us the delightful character of Ragueneau, a pastry-chef-poet. In addition to writing his own poems, Ragueneau offers free pastry to poets who give him a written poem. But Ragueneau’s frugal wife uses those pages of poetry to wrap the pastries they sell! When the morning crowd of hungry poets demand a poem from the master himself, Ragueneau offer up one of the most quoted recipes in verse [as translated from the original French]:
“Beat your eggs, the yolk and white, very light;
Mingle with their creamy fluff milk of almonds, just enough.
Dainty pattie-pans embraced in puff paste.
Have these ready in reach to fill each.
So into these, a score or more, slowly pour your custard so.
And there you go!
Almond tartlets Ragauneau!”
To which I replied –
I need to start writing my recipes in verse.
and the challenge was on!
It took about two seconds to find the right candidate for a poem – My mother-on-law Irene’s recipe for summer fruit cake. It’s my go-to summer pot luck/dinner party dessert, and can be made using any summer fruit – usually I use a pint of blueberries.
But Irene always made it using small Italian plums, a bag of which which my daughter happened to bring with her to our cottage over Labor Day weekend. Well, I tell you (and my husband and family concur), the plum version is even better than the blueberry version of this delicious cake. It’s made all the more special by the fact that good Italian plums are a rare find off-season, which means that the plum cake is an ephemeral treat whose enjoyment is limited to late summer.
So, before it gets too late, I urge you to seek out some small Italian plums, and try this recipe, as did one of my writing group members, who shared the cake with friends old and new. I was so touched that she made it, and love thinking of it gracing the table over which tea and conversation and community were shared.
Late Summer Plum Cake
As summer days shorten and September comes,
rinse 10 ripe small Italian plums.
Pat them dry, then slice in two
along their length – use all your strength,
the pit can be a challenge to remove.
Then set aside, you’ve got lots more to do!Fahrenheit 375 – preheat your oven now.
Gather your ingredients. I hope that you know how
to separate 3 eggs, then beat the whites alone
till stiff and fluffy. (My, my how they have grown!)Cream 6 ounces butter at room temperature
with sugar (a cup and a half),
till light yellow in color and when you are sure,
then one-at-a-time,
(stalling now for a rhyme)
beat in three egg yolks for a laugh.Mix 1 tsp vanilla with 3 tbsp rum
and add to the butter mix.
Then the grated peel of a large yellow lemon
will add a citric kick.In a separate bowl, whisk 2 cups of flour
with 1/2 tsp baking soda and a 1/4 tsp salt.
Then add in to the butter mix, but lower the power,
beat just till incorporated,
lest gluten be formulated
and a tough crumb will be your fault!Now fold in those egg whites
(hopefully they’re still stiff).
Use a big rubber spatula,
as the batter is thick
and the bowl may seem heavy,
but don’t be a coward,
pour the batter into a pan that you’ve buttered and floured.
(A 9×13 inch pan is the best size to use,)
and now comes the fun part – top it off with the fruit!Place each little plum-half face down on the batter
in a 5 by 4 grid, so they look straight and nice.
No need to press hard, as it just doesn’t matter.
They’ll sink while it’s baking, one plum to a slice!Sprinkle 1/4 cup thinly sliced almonds atop
the plums, then into the oven she goes
for a half hour or so, 35 minutes tops,
Till a tester comes out clean
(you know what I mean)
and the cake lightly browned – then stop!Let your plum cake cool on a rack completely
Then dust with confectioner’s sugar using a sieve
Be generous with the sugar, but please do it neatly
and don’t make a mess. (If you do, I’ll forgive.)Cut into pieces
and share with your friends.
They will all sing your praises
and come back for seconds!
More on Italian Plums
- Food52 – Should you fall for the final stone fruit of summer?
- Savoring Italy – Italian Plum Jam
- Smitten Kitchen pays homage to Marian Burros’s quintessential Italian Plum Torte
- Dorie Greenspan makes her Plum Torte spicy, using Chinese 5 spice, ginger and cinnamon
