Vanilla Plum Cake

 

This recipe makes one huge cake or two smaller ones:

 

12 or so plums (I used 20 little ones)

300g butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup yoghurt or butter milk

3 1/2 cups self raising flour

 

Preheat oven to 160°C. 
Grease and line a reasonably large roasting tin (or 2x20cm cake tins).

Halve plums and put to one side.

 

Cream together butter and sugar.

Beat in eggs one at a time.

Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla.

Gently stir in the yoghurt or buttermilk and the flour until evenly combined.

Do not over mix.

 

Spoon batter into the prepared tin(s) and spread it out evenly.

Arrange fruit on top, cut side up- they will sink down as the cake bakes.
 

Bake 50-60 minutes until the cake is set and golden.

 

Notes:

*  You could use any stone fruit.  I sometimes use apricots too.
* Dust with icing sugar to serve, if you like.

*  This cake freezes well.  I often double the mixture and make copious amounts of cake
and freeze it in a few portions.

*  You can use the same batter to make about 30 muffins- bake for about 25 minutes.

Recipe from Annabel Langbein's The Free Range Cook book.