Friday Food: Plum Tray Bake

This recipe is from the March 2012 Delicious magazine. Plums are in season and this is a great way to use them. I think any stone fruit, cherries or maybe raspberries, would be a good substitute. But the lovely slightly tart tang of the plums coupled with the cake and cream cheese is perfect. The plums cook down and make an almost plummy sauce in some places. It also makes a whole tray full. In the magazine there is a recipe for white chocolate custard, but cream or plain custard works perfectly well.

The original recipe is written out for all the ingredients at once, but I have broken it up into the different parts. I have been caught before, not reading through the recipe, and making my cake with all the butter and having none left for the streusel topping!!

 

Plum Tray Bake  serves 6-8 generously

For the cream cheese mixture:

• 250g cream cheese (Philly) at room temperature
• 1 tspn vanilla
• 55g cup caster sugar
• 1 egg

For the cake batter:

• 175g butter, softened
• 175g brown sugar
• 200g self raising flour, sifted
• 3 eggs

and also

• 400g plums, sliced and stones removed- about 5 or 6
  
• icing sugar to dust
• custard or cream for serving

 

Preheat the oven to 180*C and grease and line an 18 x 28cm pan.

To make the cream cheese mixture: place everything in the bowl and beat for 3 minutes until smooth. Spoon into another container so you can use the same bowl for mixing the next part of the tray bake.

To make the cake batter: again, place everything in the mixer bowl and beat for 2-3 minutes. This goes against the grain with me, I always add the flour later and gently fold it in, but I trusted the recipe and went ahead.

Then slice the plums. I washed them first and then started slicing on one cheek, and then continued slicing with the flat recently cut side on the board. This seemed quite a good method for getting the most plum and the least flesh left on the stone.

Carefully cover the base of the pan with half the cake batter. Pour on half the cream cheese mixture and swirl together. This was quite tricky, I just did my best. Top with half the sliced plums. Repeat with the cake batter, cream cheese mixture and finally the rest of the plums. The cooking hides a multitude of swirling sins!!

Bake for 45-50 minutes until it is golden and set in the centre. Mine was a tad wobbly but when it cooled it was fine.

It is a combination of a pudding, a cake and a slice. Very delicious indeed. I even had a slice!!

Comments

[mrspao]

Looks delicious!

[sue]

It looks so nice. They look like the blood plums that my dad grows in his garden (and that the birds love to eat).

[Kathy]

Oh my, Sue - this looks delicious! We are keen plum lovers in this house, so I will tuck this away to try soon :)

Smiled when I saw your comment on Esmes/Lillian's blog.....follow me Bach to Sew-Happy House to find out about my swap :)
http://sew-happyhouse.blogspot.com.au

[inkberryblue]

Mmmmmmmmmm... Cindy, my mouth is watering! I love the fruit that's in season right now, especially plums. Thanks for the inspiration. I think I might make this for my baby sister's birthday. =>

[Sasha]

Oh my goodness it looks absolutely scrumptious!
What a terrible thing to have on my monitor when all I have here to eat is a packet of SAO biscuits, or mandarins!

[RoseRed]

I have never been a big fan of plum (although I just love plum jam!) but I think this would work splendidly with peaches. You and your baking, you are such a temptress!

[Megan]

I Love Plums!! If I acquire some energy this week I am definitely going to make this. I even have all the ingredients to hand! (providing I don't eat all the plums in the meantime, which is highly possible)