Dimply Plum Cake

I wouldn't say this was a complete failure, but it didn't come out exactly as I would have liked. It was still very delicious, but being the overanxious person that I am, I couldn't wait to try it.

This is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours, and it is a breakfast cake. I think my plums halves were too wide and I tried to stuff too many of them into the pan. This caused the baking time to increase and the cake fell apart when I tried to unmold it. All that being said, it was delicious!

Dimply Plum Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cardamom

5 Tbls unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

grated zest of 1 orange

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums, ( don't try to fit all of them, slices might work better then halves)

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 8-inch square baking pan. Put it on a baking sheet. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Beat butter at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and beat for 2 more minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. On medium speed, beat in oil, orange zest, and vanilla. The batter will look very light, and smooth, almost satiny. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until incorporated. Run a spatula around the bowl and under the batter, just to make sure there are no dry spots. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Arrange plums, cut side up, in the batter- jiggling the plums a tad just so they settle comfortably into the batter. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is honey brown and puffed around the plums and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 15 minutes, during which time the plums juice will return to the fruit, then run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold the cake. Invert and cool right side up.