Steffen's Dinners - Recipes and Photos

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It's plum season again. Here my recipe for a traditional German plum cake, but with a crust made of sourdough instead of a regular yeast dough. This cake is great for hot summer days, it's tart and not too sweet.

Where I come from in Germany, a traditional meal is potato soup with plum or prune cake. While this combination sounds a bit unusual, it goes really well together.

Ingredients

• 1 lb 2oz / 500g bread flour
• 2 oz / 60g sourdough starter
• ¼ cup / 60ml vegetable oil
• 1 cup and 1 tbsp / 250ml milk
• 2 oz / 60g sugar (for the dough)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 oz / 90g bread crumbs
• 4-5 lbs / ca. 2kg plums
• 1 tbsp plum brandy
• 4 oz / 120g sugar
• 1/3 cup / 80ml water

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C
2. In a mixing bowl, mix together bread flour, sourdough starter, vegetable oil, milk, sugar and salt.
3. Knead with dough hook until you have a smooth and elastic dough.
4. Form a ball, thinly coat with vegetable oil, cover and let rise in a warm place until the volume has doubled. Depending on the starter this can take a few hours.
5. Grease a large baking sheet (I use a 15in / ca. 40cm pizza pan) with butter.
6. Roll out the dough, place on the sheet. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
7. Quarter the plums, and place the quarters on the sheet so that the tips stick up.
8. Sprinkle with plum brandy.
9. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the crust has turned golden brown. Remove from oven.
10. In a pan, combine sugar and water. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes.
11. Brush the top of the cake with the sugar syrup.