Let Them Eat Kuchen
Yesterday I teased you about some delicious baked plum dessert I was planning to make in my oven. I didn't actually turn on the oven because, while cooler, I didn't want to ruin the pleasantness of finally being able to have the windows open by heating up the place. So, I found a recipe for a delicious plum dish that was made in a pie plate that would fit into my toaster oven. It doesn't heat up the house much at all. So, Plum Kuchen.
Kuchen, the German word for cake, refers to several types of sweet desserts and pastries, and to a Jewish coffee cake usually made from a sweet yeast dough that is shaped, flavored and frosted. My plum kuchen a pie-like coffeecake, with a cakey crust, fruit topping and pockets of cinnamon sugar throughout. It works double-duty as a dessert and as a coffeecake. So, when I ate it last night after dinner, it was a dessert, but when I ate it this morning, it was a coffeecake. Slippery semantics does wonders to ease the guilt. By the way, kuchen is the official state dessert of South Dakota.
A few posts ago, I mentioned the booty from my travels that I have yet to enjoy. Well, after the success of the guava paste experiment, I used the Norwegian dried flowers to garnish the Canadian Bacon-and-Brie Quiche and the unopened Mexican cinnamon-sugar to top the plums in this kuchen. Both worked out well, though if you want to make these dishes and have not recently traveled to Norway and Mexico to buy these products, it won't be a problem. The quiche is just as good without the dried flower garnish and the kuchen recipe tells you how to make your own cinnamon sugar.
Plum KuchenI forgot to dust the crust with flour after I baked it, but the plums didn't give off too much juice, so it worked out OK. I also decreased the sugar sprinkled over the plums by 2-3T. It just looked like so much sugar; also the plums were sweet and ripe and I thought all that sugar would make it too sweet.
½ c. butter
1 t. white vinegar
2 T. sugar
1-¼ c. flour
1# plums (Italian)
2/3 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
2 eggs, beatenMelt butter and white vinegar. Add 2 T. sugar and flour. Pat into 10” pie pan. Prick with fork and bake at 500 for 10 minutes. Dust with flour.
Cut plums in quarters and arrange to overlap. [I cut mine into thinner slices, which made for easier overlapping arrangement, and also easier cutting and eating. I'm not saying you have to do this too, but it's easier. I just want you to be fully informed about your options.-BA] Sprinkle top with sugar and cinnamon that has been mixed. Beat eggs and pour on top.
Bake at 400 for 40 minutes.
Serves 8.
With Hands and Heart Cookbook: 1889-1989 Centennial Issue, Bethesda General Hospital & Homes, St. Louis, 1989.
This only used ~6 plums, so I still have many left that are at or fast-approaching the peak of ripeness. GC confessed to me that he doesn't really like eating plums out of hand, so there is definitely no way I'll be able to eat these on my own before they all go bad. Luckily, plums are easy to freeze. Rinse them off and remove the produce code sticker. (An aside - when you buy soft-flesh fruit, like plums, peaches, nectarines, etc;, it is best to leave on the sticker until you're ready to eat it. Sometimes those stickers are really sticky and pull off some of the skin when removed; if you do this early, the exposed flesh is prone to rot. Again, do as you will, but be informed). OK, after rinsing, dry thoroughly, slice in half, remove the pit, and quarter or slice into 1/8, but don't go too thin with your slices. Freeze. You can lay them flat on a baking sheet to freeze individually, just be sure to use a sheet of parchment or plastic wrap between the fruit and the baking sheet to keep the slices from sticking. You can also just throw them all into a plastic freezer bag, but they'll freeze together in a clump, which isn't a problem if you plan to use them all at once. Trying to pull off just a few slices from the clump, though, will be difficult. I'll be freezing my plums for later.
Getting to Know All About You: Favorite fruit?