38 | 52 Plum Muffins

Don't think that I can't see it.

You. Rolling your eyes.

At yet another plum recipe.

I'm sorry but I can't help it!

Not sure where exactly it comes from but I keep wanting to try new plum (baking) recipes.

And when should I actually make them if not now?!

So I beg you. Please. Stay with me.

And just enjoy the plummy ride.

Plum Muffins

From Christina's Cucina

260 g (2 cups) flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

2 eggs

100 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil

250 ml (1 cup) yogurt

300 g (10.5 oz) plums, chopped

• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). 
• Combine flour, baking powder and soda, and sugar in a bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and yogurt. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until just combined (works best with a wooden spoon).
• Add plums and fold in carefully. Fill muffin cups/pan and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

My modifications:

I used coconut oil instead of olive oil.

The taste:

Good, moist, comforting.

It actually tastes as if there are oats in the batter. Strange because, as you know, there are none.

Definitely to be enjoyed on the day of baking when the top is still a bit 'crusty'.

All in all: nothing exciting or extravagant about these but you probably wouldn't pick this recipe if that's what you're after...

Do you even like plums? If so, how do you like them best?

36 | 52 Poppyseed Quark Cake with Prunes and Cinnamon Crumbles

Another week, another plum recipe. (#sorrynotsorry)

'Tis the season. Of yummy purple, oval plums. Or prunes?

Yes, let's take a moment and talk about those plums/prunes.

Here in Switzerland (and Germanya and Austria), we love our Zwetschgen. And our Pflaumen, too.

According to the Wikipedia, Zwetschgen are a a subspecies of the plum (Pflaume).

Zwetschge = prune, or common plum = Prunus domestica subsp. domestica

Pflaume = (round) plum = Prunus domestica

The easiest way to keep them apart is actually their shape and color.

Zwetschgen are oval and very dark blue/purple, Pflaumen are bigger and round and of a lighter purple (or even yellow or red).

YAY! You might have even learned something new today!

If not - sorry to have bored you with all these German, English, and Latin terms...

Oh, but I forgot. This recipe also calls for Quark. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about, follow this link... 

Poppyseed Quark Cake with Prunes and Cinnamon Crumbles

From Ich bin dann mal kurz in der Küche

For the bottom and crumbles
100 g (1 stick minus 1 tablespoon) butter, cold
50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
180 g (1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon) flour

 

For the filling

250 g (8.8 oz) quark

1 egg

1 tablespoon cornstarch

50 g (1/4 cup) sugar

100 g (3.5 oz) poppyseeds, ground

Plus

1 teaspoon cinnamon

300 g (10.5) prunes/plums, halved and pitted

• For the bottom and crumbles, cut cold butter into pieces. Add remaining bottom/crumble ingredients and knead (with your hands) until you get a smooth dough. Let cool for 30 minutes.  
• For the filling, mix together all filling ingredients. 
• Preheat oven to 180°C (355°F). 
• Put 2/3 of the bottom/crumbles dough evenly onto the bottoms of 2 small, round springform pans (20 cm/8 in). Spoon poppyseed filling over dough and distribute prune halves on top of it. 
• Combine the remaining dough for the crumbles with cinnamon and crumble over prunes. 
• Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely before serving (and ideally serve the next day).

My modifications:

None. Except for using two (instead of one) 20 cm springform pans which was perfect for the amounts given.

The taste:

Good on the first day, definitely a lot better on the second day so try to be patient ;) 

I'm not the biggest fan of poppyseeds but I still liked it. It does taste more like fall than summer (at least to me) so save this for the end of plum season...

What's more commonly available where you live: Zwetschgen or Pflaumen?

Do you have a preference if you can buy both?

34 | 52 The Original New York Times Plum Torte

Somebody I follow on Instagram recently posted a picture mentioning (not showing!) some famous 'Plum Torte'.

I was instantly hooked. 

Having just bought plums and being really curious about the combination of 'Plum' and 'Torte' I immediately pinterested it. (Yes, I didn't google it, I pinterested it...)

All these pins of the New York Times' Original Plum Torte came up so I assumed that this must be it. The famous Plum Torte.

Now, let's get something straight here.

'Torte' in German means some kind of layer cake. 2 and more layers of some sponge cake, filled and topped with some sort of cream.

One of the most famous German Tortes is probably the 'Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte' (Black Forest Cake) which my husband is a big fan of but me not so much.

The Times' Plum Torte actually has zero to do with a Torte. At least not in the German sense.

But it's so much better than a (German) Torte.

It's quick, easy, with few ingredients, light, and just an everyday treat that everybody will love. It sure isn't fancy but so very comforting.

And that's more important anyway. Right?

 
The Original New York Times Plum Torte

From The New York Times

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

113 g (1/2 cup) butter

130 g (1 cup) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

12 purple plums, in halves and pitted

Sugar and cinnamon for topping

• Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF) degrees.
• Cream together sugar and butter. 
• Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well.
• Spoon batter into a round spring form pan of 25 cm / 10 in (or smaller, if you don't have this size). 
• Distribute plum halves on the batter, skin side up. 
• Sprinkle lightly with sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (or less, if you're not into cinnamon that much).
• Bake about one hour. Remove and cool (or serve lukewarm).

My modifications: 

None. 

The taste: 

Perfect. Comforting. Real. A true keeper. 

What's your favorite plum recipe? 

35*52 Plum Crumble Cake

Can you believe it is September already? I can't. And I don't want to. 

Even though I love fall. Doesn't make sense, does it?

One great thing about fall are plums. I know, I know, it is still summer.

But we can already enjoy a bit of plum-crumble-cake action, can't we?

Especially when it's fast and easy as the one below.

 Plum Crumble Cake

Adapted from Lecker.de

225 g butter

750 g plums

350 g flour

150 g ground almonds

150 g sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 egg

• Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). 
• Melt the butter and let cool. Cut plums in half or quarters, take out pits.
• Combine flour, almonds, sugar, vanilla (sugar), cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
• Add egg and melted butter and mix with a fork, then using your hands.
• Take 2/3 of the crumble dough and press to the bottom of a greased springform pan.
• Distribute plums evenly and crumble remaining 1/3 of the crumble dough over plums.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

My modifications:

Okay. I wanted to bake this spontaneously. Not having to go to the store before. And then I realized that I didn't have enough of most of the ingredients at home. But it still worked:

- 190 g butter plus 35 g oil,

- flour and ground almonds instead of 500 g flour,

- 150 g sugar instead of 175 g,

- half a mashed banana instead of the egg.

The taste:

Very yummy! A little too wintery or even christmassy with the cinnamon - I would definitely omit this next time. But the addition of the ground almonds is so good! Please do it if you can. As you can imagine, the bottom is not fluffy at all. But especially on the second day after baking, when the plum juices soaked through the bottom - heavenly!

Have you ever changed a recipe because you didn't have enough of each of the ingredients at home?

36/52 Plum Tart

It's plum season! Yay!

And because I was on a short vacation last week and don't want to ruin my relaxed mood yet (it will be ruined tomorrow - Monday - anyway), let's bake something really quick and easy but delicious, of course. That's when we come back to the opening exclamation of this post:

It's plum season! Yay!

Plum Tart

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine July 2012

2 tablespoons almonds

1 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 sheet puff pastry (thawed if frozen)

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon milk (or heavy cream)

10 plums, pitted and cut into thin slices

3 tablespoons apricot jam, heated until loose

• Pulse almonds, sugar and flour in food processor until ground finely.
• Roll out puff pastry on baking parchment (if not already on it) and make a small border on all sides by folding a bit of the pastry dough inwards.
• Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F) (or according to pastry instructions).
• Whisk together egg and milk and brush pastry with it, putting a bit more on the borders. Sprinkle almond mix over center of pastry. Evenly place plum slices in rows on pastry.
• Bake until edges are golden brown (mine needed 20 minutes but please check your pastry instructions). Brush plums with warm jam and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(before & after baking)

My modifications:

The original recipe sprinkles one additional tablespoon sugar over the plums before baking. I didn't feel this necessary and did not miss it at all.

I used milk instead of heavy cream for the egg mix to brush on and I brushed it on the whole pastry, not just the borders because I didn't want to waste that much of it.

The original recipe uses frozen pastry that is thawed, then suggests to freeze it for 30 minutes after rolling it out and for another 30 minutes after arranging the plums on it. I used cooled (but not frozen) pastry and did not see the need for any in-between freezing (and the results proved me right). I also only needed 20 minutes of baking at 200°C (390°F) compared to the original 40 minutes at 190°C (375°F). I can only assume that American puff pastry and German puff pastry are different (maybe also in size?), so I suggest that you just read the instructions of your pastry package. This should be the safest bet for finding the correct baking temperature and time.

Oh, and I used low-fat puff pastry. Still very good with a bit less calories from fat.

The taste: 

Heavenly! I want to make it again tomorrow. And the day after. And every single day after that. And maybe with tomatoes.

And it really is so simple! Please do try it right away - you won't be sorry!

What's your favorite puff pastry recipe? Sweet or savory?