Evolution of a Plum Cake

It started with this perfect plum, which I saw hanging in a tree out back behind the house. We'd only just arrived at our home for the weekend, but I was already excited. The tree was full of fruit and with a gentle tap I knew they were all ready to come down. "Am I allowed to pick these?" I asked.


The answer was yes, so in the morning I slipped out into the misty garden with a basket and a sweater. The dogs followed around behind me, eating the fruit that had fallen during the night. With each pluck, the branch buckled then sprang back up, showering me with morning dew.


I quartered the plums and tucked them into a batter scented with saffron that I brought in my purse from home and a meyer lemon from a tree I passed while in town. A generous dusting of sugar finished it off. Don't you love the way the buttered and floured sides of the pan catch the afternoon light?


While this baked, the kitchen took on a sultry dreamy aroma. For a while I just sat in front of the oven peering through the glass as the golden cake rose and the plums gently and slowly slipped under the surface. Later, when I served it, my friend Reamonn held a piece up to his face and inhaled. "Is it wrong that I'd like my future wife to smell like this?"

The recipe is this one, although I changed a few things. I only used plums, of course, and since I didn't have almond meal, I ground a large handful of macadamia nuts instead. Decadent, perhaps, but that perfect plum deserved it.

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I'm Just Mad About Peach-and-Plum Saffron Almond Cake

Hey there, Monday. Back so soon?

I've got so many stories I'm dying to tell you. Like about this hysterically good dinner I had at the Fatty Crab on the UWS on Friday night. A dinner so good that I could not stop smiling the entire time. There was also a mini road trip down to a little Victorian-era village on the Jersey Shore where we met up with my parents and Eugene's parents and had a great time at a concert put on by a Bee Gees tribute band. I also tasted the most incredible cocktail that somehow managed to combine coconut water and rum with cilantro and chiles and (I suspect) a dash of magic. There were several walks up and down the boardwalk, a delicious hour spent rifling through a little vintage store where I discovered the most wonderful 1940s hat and a gorgeous little etched bowl in a perfect shade of strawberry milk glass.

Awesome weekend, for sure, but I am SO tired. This was more action than I've had in quite a while, and it's all I can do to dash out a few words before I dive into my bed. But I'd feel guilty if I left you with nothing, so I'm going to quickly tell you about the cake I made this week. It's a good one. So good, I'm actually now referring to as "THE cake."

You start with peaches and sugar plums. The kind of ripe that buckles to the touch, and all but explodes when pierced with the very tip of your knife making. Juicy, messy, stone fruit that's been sitting out on the counter maybe just a day or two longer than you meant.

These you'll grab and slice thickly (no baby slices allowed), and arrange all haphazardly into an absolutely heavenly batter.

Picture a moist cake with ground almonds, a big shower of lemon zest, and (this is where it gets good)...saffron. (See why I'm calling it "THE cake"?)

Don't forget to wake up the saffron by simmering it in a little saucer of milk first. You want the color to spill out and your kitchen to start to smell a little something like what I imagine all the rooms in that book A Thousand and One Nights smelled like.

It will come out of the oven all sunshine yellow with fruit studding the cake like circle of stained glass. You might be tempted to hang this up on the wall, were it not for the husky waves of saffron that will quickly fill up your home.

I was so in love with this cake by the time it came out of my oven that I practically kept it in my lap while it cooled, leaning down every few minutes just to inhale.


I can't wait until you try this. You won't believe what just a little pinch of those threads can do... And since there are no stories today, it gives that much time to get right down to baking this. I'm pretty sure you'll be OK with this deal once you taste it.




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Loved this recipe? Here are three other almond cake recipes you might like:

• Almond Raspberry Shortbread Cake
• Blackberry Saffron Almond Cake
• Chocolate Pear Custard Tart with Almond Shortbread Crust

And let's connect so you can find out the next time I post! Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates.

Thanks so much for reading!

Peach-and-Plum Saffron Almond Cake
Makes one 9" cake

Directions
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond meal (finely ground almonds)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar ("Sugar in the Raw")
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon saffron threads (or 1/8th teaspoon ground saffron)
1/4 cup whole milk
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon pure almond extract
2 VERY ripe plums, pitted and cut into thick slices (about 1")
3 VERY ripe peaches, pitted and cut into thick slices (about 1")

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan and set aside. Sift together flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In the base of an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and one cup of sugar for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding the next.

In a small saucepan, combine the milk and saffron threads and heat until it boils then immediately turn off. Let steep for a minute or two, until the milk takes on a rich yellow hue. Let cool slightly and then pour into your batter along with the lemon zest and almond extract. Incorporate well. (Note: if the batter curdles a bit, don't worry. It will fix itself once you add the flour and won't affect the final taste or texture.)

With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread the prepared batter into the springform pan and smooth out the top.

Arrange the fruit in concentric circles, alternating the peaches and plums. Use all the fruit, even if you have to layer some on top of each other to fit (the fruit will sink during baking).

Sprinkle the fruit and top of cake with the 2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar. Bake in oven for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool completely before serving.

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