Cakey Plum Cobbler

This one is for my mom.

The running joke in my family is that my mother is a less-than-stellar cook because she recklessly substitutes ingredients in what are otherwise recipes followed with precision and care. Writing this now, I can't actually recall a specific instance when this wanton replacing took place, proof positive that if you ever make a mistake in my family, you can expect it to follow you around for the rest of your natural life. One time, one dash of tarragon in place of oregano, and she's forever marked as the nutty professor in the kitchen.

And so, in solidarity, I baked this cake for her. This cake that began as a clafouti.

Having never made clafouti, I didn't have a very good understanding of what it actually was. This was made clear by the fact that I only had about 4 tablespoons of milk left--I misread the recipe, and thought it said 1/3 cup instead of 3/4 cup. It was 9:30am and my hungry family would be knocking at my door in an hour. There was going to be no custard in my house that morning.

I did a quick search for plum + brunch and found a recipe for plum bread, which, thanks to my lack of ingredients and ancestral ingeuity, turned into this moist, sweet cakey plum cobbler. The plums oozed and bubbled their way to the top of the cake, giving it a tart and shiny crust. The inside was just barely done, not doughy, but juicy.

My experience is that playing with cake can be dangerous business, especially when folks are counting on you for a meal. But I also knew that the worse case scenario was that we pick up some cruellers from Donuts Plus if it didn't work. That, and I would be forever marked by my family as a kitchen disaster, of which I would be in good company.

Cakey Plum Cobbler

Adapted from Diana's Desserts

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

1tsp vanilla

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup almond meal

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup mashed bananna

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour cake pan.

Dice plums.

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time.

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder

Blend in banannas and almond meal

Pour in cake pan and bake 55 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm!