I love dessert– a tall layer cake, a slice of pie (duh, I wrote a book about that one!). I’ll even take a cookie. But what I really love, are trustworthy, un-embellished, not-too-sweet, single layered, coarse crumbed cakes. My friend calls these cakes abstemious– but he’s a wordsmith.

I have a few of the recipes that I fall back on time and again. The French yogurt cake is a delicious standard. There is a lemon glazed beauty (also with yogurt) that is as good for afternoon tea as it is for dessert. But the recipe that I find myself returning to, and yes, toying with ever so slightly, is Edna Lewis’s Busy-Day Cake from her marvelous book, The Taste of Country Cooking.

I don’t know about where you live, but here in CT, we still have plums, and better yet, we have Italian prune plums. This type of plum is perfect for baking, but not so much for eating out of hand. The fruit comes away from the stone easily, they hold their shape well in the oven, and the flavor truly concentrates, making a scrumptious, plummy elixir. When I saw them at the market, I knew that a cake must be made with them.

I decided that a Plum Busy-Day Cake would be the best option for the fruit. I also had a bit of almond meal, and substituted that for some of the flour, figuring it would give the cake more of a nubby texture, rather than a nutty taste. So, I laid out my half-plums on top of this amended batter, dusted it ever-so slightly with some cinnamon-sugar, and popped it in the oven. 40 minutes later this is what I got:

Where did my plums go; all of them sunk!

The baking powder, and there is quite a bit in this cake recipe, activated, but the batter wasn’t sturdy enough to withstand the plums on top. Each fell towards the bottom of the cake.

But the plums turned out to be a delicious surprise. They’re a jammy, sweet-tart layer at the bottom of the cake. The cake still sliced beautifully, the almond meal was delightful, and the cake, while not what I expected, was a homey treat.

Plum Busy-Day Cake
adapted from The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 teaspoons baking powder
light grating of nutmeg
8-10 Italian prune plums, halved
sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a nine-inch springform pan, an set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and the almond meal together. Add in approximately 1/2 cup of the flour mixture, and beat until combined. Then add approximately 1/4 cup of the milk, and blend until well combined. Continue adding in the flour mixture, followed by the milk mixture in 4 parts, ending with the flour mixture. Add the salt, vanilla, baking powder, and nutmeg, and mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out the batter, and then place the plums, cut side up, in concentric circles. They will not touch. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.