Now is the time that well-prepared Jewish households are busy baking and freezing in advance of the holidays. Here’s an easy plum cake that is very appropriate as a delicious holiday dessert for Rosh Hashana or any other of the High Holiday yom tovim. The cake, double-wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, freezes well, especially when thawed covered, at room temperature. The only drawback is the need to refrigerate leftovers, as this is a very wet cake, relatively speaking, because of the fresh fruit. It is somewhere between a cake, a cobbler, and a pie. Make it when the long freestone prune plums are in season.
Hungarian Plum Cake
Yield: 10-12 servings
Ingredients:
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- ½ tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Almond extract
- 10 Italian prune plums, halved and pitted
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- ½ cup sugar
Method:
- Cream shortening and sugar.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
- Add dry ingredients and extract and beat well.
- Place batter in well-greased 9-inch pie plate or springform pan.
- Place plums on top evenly with skin side down. Sprinkle mixture of cinnamon and ½ cup sugar over entire top.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until top is mostly set and juices from fruit bubble up.
- (This can be made with fresh, sliced apples, sprinkling a small amount of lemon juice over the top with the cinnamon and sugar.)