Polish Plum Cake

This quick and easy recipe for Polish Plum Cake was found at About.Com.Eastern European Food. You can use either fresh fruit, or tinned, for this recipe. The thing about plum cake is that it's so lovely and moist.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 + 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) soft butter + 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into bits and pieces 
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• fresh plums, any variety, pitted and halved (about 20)
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves

Preparation:

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. then lightly butter a 13" x 9" pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and 3/4 cup sugar. Add the softened butter, milk and eggs. Beat at a medium speed for 4 minutes.

Pour (if you can) the batter into the prepared pan. Place the plums on top of the batter, cut side up, and push them down slightly. Mix together the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and the cloves with the 3 tablespoons of  cold butter bits and sprinkle the mixture over the plums. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan so the plum juices will be absorbed. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar if you like.

Editorial Note: This batter was very sticky, so was difficult to get into the pan. When you finally get it in the pan, it seems insufficient. However, try to spread it evenly out to the corners of the pan, and you'll be amazed by how the cake increases in size during the baking process.

You will notice that, in spite of the recipe's explicit instructions to the contrary, I placed some plums cut side down. So there.

Plum cake in the raw- festively strewn with butter and sugar and ready to be popped into the oven