The sugar plums that ripen in late summer aren’t the ones that sweeten children’s dreams in Moore’s poem about the night before Christmas. Those sugar plums are candies made of dried fruit, sugar and spices–and for most people they’ve become mythical. 

What tantalizes me, though, is the European plums of the same name. These are no myth. Their oval shape and delicate flavor take me back to fruit-gathering expeditions in my French grandmother’s garden. And this summer, they’ve inspired Italian plum cake and visions of tarts.

The main plum varieties in America are descendants of an Asian species. The classic American plum has maroon skin so dark it’s almost black. But cousins of the same plum can look like an autumn leaf caught in slow motion: pale yellow, orangy-red, deep ruby. Pluots, plum-apricot hybrids, add even more color variations, including the speckled pink and white of a Dappled Dandy. All of these plums share one thing in common, though: their cute, round shape.

Not so in Europe. Yes, there are round yellow mirabelles, so tiny they look like toy fruit. And there are round green Reine Claudes. But the most common plums of the European species are oval. Their skin is deep purple, their flesh pale lime-yellow.

In America, we call them sugar plums, or Italian plums, and they’re grown primarily to dry into prunes. (In France, the word for plum is actually “prune.”) Their high sugar content makes them ideal for drying and preserving. But you can also find them at farmers markets and grocery stores that have interesting produce departments.

They’re worth tracking down. I love to eat them plain. In fact, it’s my sense of their specialness and rarity here that has made me shy about baking with them. I know tarte aux quetsches is an Alsatian classic, made with what we would call sugar plums. And I’ve been eyeing the tarte aux quetsche recipe in Andre Soltner’s Lutece cookbook ever since it joined the pile of treasures I’ve amassed as part of the research for my book.  (“The Alsatian,” Jacques Pepin declared as he introduced me to Andre at the French Culinary Institute in June.) But it’s an Italian plum cake recipe that made me discover how wonderful sugar plums are for baking.

The following cake was an adamant July birthday request. Halved sugar plums are pressed into the batter of an Italian-style cake made with almond flour and egg whites, and then baked until they’re meltingly tender. The almond and plum flavors complement each other beautifully. Dusted with powdered sugar, the cake is both rustic and elegant. It’s just the sort of thing you might eat on a piazza in Italy.

Still, I feel the pull of the French plum tart. For me, it is still mythical. So I have to act before summer’s end. The Lutece cookbook will introduce me to a classic. Then there is Clothilde Dusoulier’s intriguing Plum Tart with Walnut Cream on her Chocolate & Zucchini blog. Based on her mother’s recipe, it combines the Alsatian quetsche tart with a walnut-creme-fraiche filling that is typical of the Perigord region’s walnut tarts. The combination has me dreaming.

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 Plum Almond Cake, Italian-style

(adapted from Elaine McCardel’s The Italian Dish blog)

5 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup almond flour

1/2 cup flour

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

6 Italian/sugar plums, halved, pits removed

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

Beat the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl until billowy (a few minutes). Fold in the flours. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, milk, almond extract and lemon zest. Slowly incorporate into the egg white mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Arrance the plum halves on top, pressing them into the batter a bit. You can arrange them cut-side up or cut-side down.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.  Allow to cool, then dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Victoria plums from Kent

Events across the country have been arranged not only promoting British food but also  how to enjoy it and learn more about it. Check www.lovebritishfood.co.uk for more details and to find out what’s happening near you.

My friend, the rural artisan and fellow Women’s Food & Farming Union London branch www.wfulondon.org.uk member, Sally Scantlebury, is staging an exhibition in St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch entitled “Art you can Eat” with a special open evening on 30^th September from 5-9pm entitled “Daily Bread” .

For more information e-mail Sally at  sally.scantlebury@feastnet.net .

This time of year it is impossible, I think, to be unmoved by the sight of abundant produce at local farmers’ market: plums, greengages, the last blackberries, courgettes, aubergines, the first English apples such as Discovery and Worcester Pearmain and ofcourse mushrooms.

I remember being given a Discovery apple as part of my packed lunch at the start of the new school year in September; because of their attraction to wasps, we called Discoveries “wasp apples”.

Victoria plums, like the ones in the picture above, are best for the kitchen rather than eating raw: a cake, a tart with almonds or marzipan, plum sauce, a compote to be eaten with ice cream or cream or thick Greek yoghurt and ofcourse jam.

Here’s a recipe, loosely based on Nigel Slater’s, for a fresh plum & almond cake which works equally well as a coffee/tea cake or dessert.

I saw a very similar cake in the window of Ottolenghi’s deli on Westbourne Grove, London, at the weekend, but made in a large square tin.  It looked really good and makes a nice change from ubiquitous round cakes, so use that (or even a large loaf tin) if you prefer.

I used a 20cm round spring form, lined with a sheet of aluminium foil (you can also use baking parchment) and lightly buttered.

Plum & Almonds cakes ready for the oven

This is what you need:

Serves 12

150g butter at room temperature

150g  unrefined golden caster sugar

15 plums, cut in quarters

3 large eggs

75g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp almond essence

100g ground almonds

50g finely chopped almonds (blanched or with skin on – it doesn’t matter)

This is what you do:

1. pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4
2. using a food mixer, beat the butter + sugar until so pale and fluffy it looks like vanilla ice cream
3. break the eggs in a mug + beat lightly with a fork
4. add the eggs to the butter + sugar, mixing in the egg mixture before adding more
5. add the almond essence
6. sift the flour + baking powder over the bowl and fold gently into the mixture with a large metal spoon
7. fold in the grounds almonds, followed by the chopped almonds
8. scrape the mixture into the prepared baking tin
9. place the quartered plums onto the cake mixture; avoid overloading the centre or this part of the cake will remain runny. The plums will sink into the mixture as the cake bakes.
10. bake for 50 minutes, then test for “doneness” with a skewer: if it comes out clean, without wet cake mixture sticking to it, the cake is ready
11. remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes or so before turning out

Happy baking!

Monique

Food glut: plums