Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie: Dimply Plum Cake

The plum cake Gods were not on my side this week.

It all turned out fine in the end, but it seemed like everything went wrong in the process. I had everything I needed and the cake was super easy to whip up. The only thing I did differently was mix in a little dark brown sugar because I didn't have enough of the light brown. I didn't really think it would make a difference, and maybe it didn't, I'm not really sure what my problem was.

I put it in the oven to bake for the recommended 40 minutes. But it wasn't done. I ended up leaving it in for another 12 minutes and kept checking it, but that knife kept coming out with batter on it! The sides looked like they were getting overdone, so I finally threw in the towel and just took it out. Here's how it looked right out of the oven...


Then I tried to invert it and get it out of the pan. It broke in half.

I re-assembled it and think I did a fairly good job of making it look like it never happened...


I think the cake part of this was really great and flavorful, but I wasn't a huge fan of the plums. It was quite good with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, though! I took this to my parent's house over the weekend while I visited them and the only person who tried a piece was my Dad. I think everyone else was turned off by the thought of the plums. So I think next time I'll try this with something else, like peaches.


Head on over to Michelle's blog at Bake-en for the recipe.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more - but yeah, anything with a big plop of whipped cream is automatically improved!

Cathy said...

It looks beautiful, even after your reconstructive surgery. Almost every post I've read has mentioned something about the cake being undercooked in the center after 40 minutes - I had this same problem. But go much more than that, and the edges start to get overdone, as you noted. It's a quag, alright! Anyway, I'm glad it worked out in the end, although I agree that this might do well with a different fruit!

Prudy said...

No one would have been the wiser about your difficulty getting it out of the pan. It really looks pretty with the dollop of whipped cream. Sorry it wasn't your favorite! I'd love your banana crumb muffin below. I've got ready bananas, too.

CB said...

It broke? aaawwww. Poor little cake. Bummer it wasn't a favorite but definitely try it with other fruits. I tried the cherry version and it was good! Now I am wishing I had made mine with some whipped cream.
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Michelle A'etonu said...

hey, you really did do a good job of making it look like nothing bad happened. It doesn't even look like it broke! it sure does look tasty with the whipped cream on!

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Good save, Melissa! The peach version is really good, so maybe it would work better for you. I lowered my oven temp and cooked a bit longer. It was hard to test, but mine did cook through.
Nancy

Maria said...

I think your cake is lovely! I would love it with peaches I think!! But the plums are beautiful!

Engineer Baker said...

Nice patch job! I was iffy on baked plums, but this turned me into a believer.

Flourchild said...

I love that picture with the slice of cake and whipped cream on top. I could jump through the screen and gobble it up! I think your cake looks tast!

chocolatechic said...

A piece of my side fell off too, but I stuck it back on rather quickly, and no one was the wiser.

Shelby said...

Yeah, whipped cream fixes everything :-) well, almost :-p

Christine said...

Whipped cream makes everything better! I think your cake looks great!

Anonymous said...

It sounds great with the whipped cream. Ssssssh, just don't tell about it falling apart. We need our kitchen secrets you know? I think it looks great.