Mini-Plum Quick Cake

Kitty FloridoMay 28, 2016

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

Sometimes you just need to bake a quick cake. This past month has been full of work (yay!), but that also means full of meetings and heading out from home into the traffic. I live just outside the city, but getting anywhere can take me from the usual 45 minutes to a couple of hours. So yes, sometimes you just need to bake.

When I do, there’s a routine that I always follow: get my headphones and play some music from the phone, place the iPad or cooking book with the recipe in my usual place, take out my bamboo cutting board to place all the ingredients near the mixer… and start baking!

Theres something calming about getting in the kitchen and tune out the entire world. Its therapy. Between quickly planning the shots (this time I skipped the tripod) and prepare what ever I’m cooking is relaxing to me.

I know this is not for everyone, and for me its cooking and my new-found love of watercolor calligraphy. For others its running or knitting. The bottom line is, that you need to find your thing. If your schedule is too tight, try at least do in it every one or two weeks.

Now, lets talk cake. I wanted to prepare a recipe that was a no-fuss recipe, plus it uses oil instead of butter so no need to take out the butter for softening before hand. The only time-consuming task is pitting the plums. I found these gorgeous mini plums almost a week ago at the supermarket, and after letting them ripen, they were ready for some action. They are small, sweet and so colorful! I even skipped the butter and flour step from the recipe by placing parchment paper inside the pan and generously spraying the pan and the paper. See? No fuss.

Perfect to serve for a mid afternoon snack with tea or coffee… and don’t let the name fool you. You can easily replace the plums with strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb or blueberries.

Kitty

Mini-Plum Quick Cake

Recipe adapted from Liv for Cake
Makes one 8-by-8-inch cake

Ingredients:
3 eggs
½ cup sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups of sliced plums
Optional:
sanding sugar and slivered almonds for the topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF, and spray an 8-in square pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment and spray again.
Sift or whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl, and set aside.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar on high until pale and fluffy. This takes about 5 minutes.
With the mixer running at medium speed, add the oil and vanilla. Beat on high for 2 minutes until well combined.
Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add the dry ingredients. Mix just until combined.
Fold in sliced plums and spread in prepared pan.
If using, sprinkle slivered almonds and sanding sugar on top.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden and a cake tester comes out almost clean.
Cool completely in pan and with the parchment paper, lift it up for easy slicing.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen

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