Spiced Fig and Italian Prune Plum Cake

One of the harbingers of summers twilight, Italian prune plums are like
that hot girl at the party.
Even though you might want to get next to them and talk shop , you can't help hating them too.
But, really , its not their fault they're cute.
And so what? They showed up a little late to the party.

Don't get turned off by the name.
Prune is used as an adjective here describing a type of plum.
It's true.
These little purple grenades are avatars of those infamous fiber fortified prunes. Once dried out and packaged,they serve as a solution for a common "binding" problem. Not usually the kind of thing you get a hankering for unless your into that kind of thing.
But these guys are first and foremost plum's, the likes of which even a sugar plum fairy could'nt shake.

Before making that transformation Italian prune plum's defend an allegiance to all things sweet.
Biting into one they may not seem formidable in the face of the overwhelming choices of fruit available this time of year.
Not quite as succulent and drippy as their more punctual summer produced cousins, Italian prune plums have a suspicious spring green interior that might shock you. They hold onto summers own color with an unfailing grip smuggling it under contrasting purple skin, and carrying it faithfully into fall like a souvenir of warmer months.

Take a breath Sally, and Warm them up.
Once baked they give up the goods - fathoms of fructose.

Sweet and tender, they mix well with quartered black mission figs (also purple and decidedly hanging out this time of year), or cousin plums who make a cameo in my version.



The basic recipe follows.

Its amazing on its own, though fun to experiment with.
As it is a kind of upside down cake, part of the charm is playing with the cut fruit and arranging it into patterns.

Ive turned out a few variations.
My favorite involves using mini pan tins scavenged from a friend addicted to Table Talk Pies. I made mini layer cakes alternating with ganache made from a Calindia bar from Vosges chocolate , and a complimenting jam canned earlier in the month.

Not a single cake survived the day,but nothing beats the unadulterated original.
A little bit of summer slips into fall with each fork-full; plum syrup soaking down into warmly spiced buttery cake.


Spiced Fig and Italian Prune Plum cake

• 3 Dark plums
  
• 4 Italian Prune Plums
  
• 6 figs
  
  
• 3/4 C lite brown sugar
  
• 3/4 C white sugar
  
  
• butter for cooking fruit (a few teaspoons)
  
• salt
  
  
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 cup softened butter
  
• 2 eggs room temperature
  
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (make sure it is the real deal - cultured as opposed to flavored)
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoon brandy or amaretto
  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  

* Optional: orange and lemon zests. roughly 1/2 teaspoon.

Preheat oven 350

Quarter the figs and cut and pit plums. Italian prune plums are super easy.The pit practically walks out on it own. Cut the proper plums into 6 slices each and the Italian Prune Plums into 4 slices each.

Coat the pan in butter with some to spare and cook the fruit, dusting with sugar and flipping with a spatula to ensure both sides get zapped. Dump in the rest of the white sugar and give it a good whirl. Top with a lid and simmer till it reaches a jam like consistency. Don't over cook or the fruit will get mooshy.

Butter a 6-8 inch spring form pan and arrange the fruit upside down in the bottom however you like.Use a slotted spoon to remove the fruit reserving the syrup for a topping at the end. You can either pour it over the fruit before baking or serve it on the side.
Keep in mind you want the fig quarters face down so that when you release the cake their interiors will be facing upward , smiling with seedy grins.

Mix the baking powder, salt and flour along with the spices and zest if your using it.
Beat the butter with brown sugar (be sure to firmly pack the brown sugar).
Dump in a third of the dry ingredients , then half the buttermilk, another third of the dry ingredients, the final bit of buttermilk and then finally the last bit of the dry ingredients.

Beat in the liquor.

Spill the batter like a blanket over the fruit and cook for roughly 35 min at 350.