Plum Kuchen

Plum Kuchen - looks like it
came from a magazine....

Nearly every newspaper ad, and store email advertisement are headlined with “Back to School Sales”!  The PTA back to school committees are hard at work planning for the new school year, and we’re all starting to get our kid’s school supplies ready for the start of school just a few short weeks away.  Where did the summer go?  Wait, I know what happened…I blinked…and summer flew by while my eyes were closed! 

One of the back to school tasks we parents have (for those of you yet to be parents you can live vicariously through me) is getting in those ten thousand sheets of back to school forms.  Many of them are important medical forms which require us to have our children on the expedited appointment list because we didn’t get them in to see the doctor during the year!  This also generally means long waits in the doctors’ waiting room, while the doctor sees the children of other procrastinating parents!  Now most people might see the need to kill time as a down side to a doctors’ visit...not me!  As long as I don’t have another urgent appointment, I love waiting in doctors’ waiting rooms (please don’t tell them that…even though I happen to like being there I still have other things I could be doing)!  The reason is because I get to read all the magazines that I don’t subscribe to at home.  I don’t mean Golf Digest, or Modern Undertaker, I’m talking about magazines like Rachael Ray, Cooking Light, Family Fun, and Good Housekeeping – magazines that have great articles and especially great recipes!   I always manage to find the best recipes in the magazines I read while waiting for appointments.  I think the receptionists hide when they see me because I’m the crazy patient that begs them “Can you make a copy of just this one recipe…please!? Doesn’t it look SO good?!”   The better offices have more current magazines…those are the best.  You can find awesome recipes using fresh seasonal ingredients.   I was recently at the eye doctor with my daughter and found an amazing recipe for Plum Kuchen in the July 2011 edition of Cooking Light Magazine.  A Plum Kuchen is just a round coffee cake baked with tons of fresh plums on top.  I love the fact that it uses a rainbow of different colored fresh plums.  It caught my eye because it was just so pretty!  Additionally,  I was excited about this recipe because I got to use my pastry cutter gadget, which normally doesn’t get a ton of use.  The Plum Kuchen also has some incredibly interesting spices which blend deliciously in this cake.  Even though this recipe came from Cooking Light, I made it even lighter.  I cut the amount of margarine in the recipe by nearly half, and also cut the amount of sugar.  It’s a great breakfast cake with your morning coffee or tea.  It just tastes incredibly fresh!

My cool pastry cutter tool!

Although school is just a few short weeks away, we may try to squeeze in a short family vacation to a place that’s a driveable distance away.  Here in the Midwest we may even find some farm stands along the way…how fun would that be?!!  I’ll let you know what I find…

For those of you that are trying to figure out what to make while on vacation take a look at my past blog Cooking Kosher Vacation Style for fun and yummy recipes you can make while on the road!

PLUM KUCHEN

1 ½      cups                 all-purpose flour

2          tablespoons      sugar

2          tablespoons      brown sugar

1          teaspoon          baking powder

¼         teaspoon          salt

1/8       teaspoon          ground cardamom

4          tablespoons      margarine

½         cup                   soy milk

½         teaspoon          pure vanilla extract

1          large                 egg

                                    Non-stick vegetable spray

FOR THE TOPPING

1 ½      pounds             plums, multi colored, pitted, and

                                    cut into quarters (I cut the reallylarge ones into 8ths)

1          teaspoon          grated lemon rind

¼         teaspoon          ground allspice

½         cup                   sugar (original recipe calls for 2/3 cup)

1/8       teaspoon          salt

Preheat oven to 425° F.  Spray a 9” springform pan with non-stick vegetable spray, then line with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cardamom in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Cut in 4 tablespoons margarine with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Combine soy milk, vanilla, and egg in a bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir until just combined.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread with an offset or regular spatula until evenly distributed.  Arrange plums in a circular pattern over the batter.

For the topping, combine lemon rind, allspice, sugar, and salt in a small bowl.  Evenly sprinkle over the top of the plums.  Generously spray the cake with non-stick vegetable spray.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until browned and bubbling.  Cool in pan 1 hour on a wire rack.  Cut into wedges and serve to excited family and friends!

Original recipe can be found on the Cooking Light website: Cooking Light Plum Kuchen

PLUM KUCHEN

The ingredients...

 This is what a "coarse meal" looks like:

Evenly spread the batter in the pan...

Fresh, colorful, juicy, sliced plums... 

so pretty!

Place the plums in a circular pattern

on the batter...

Make the sugary topping...

Sprinkle the sugar on the plums...

My version of the Plum Kuchen...

sooooo yummy!!

and..."It tastes as good as it looks!"

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These recipes are for sole, personal use of visitors to Sharon Matten -Edible Experience Kosher Everyday. Edible Experience Kosher Everyday recipes are for your enjoyment but are not to be posted or reprinted without express permission from Sharon Matten. Thank you!!