Grandma's yeasted plum cake
By: Sarah Alcone
Published: Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 7:58pm

Ingredients




Cake dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½  cup sugar
½ cup warm water
½ cup milk
3 Tablespoons butter melted
1 package yeast
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Plums
2 lbs italian prune plums, or as many as fit in your pan
½ cup sugar
juice of 1½ a lemon
6 Tablespoons melted butter

Preparation

1 To make cake: 2 Mix flour and sugar together on a large mixing bowl 3 Place warm water, warm milk and yeast in a small bowl and let proof 4 Pour yeast mixture into the flour and add the extract and butter. Mix together. I prefer to use my hands (t’s the way I learned to make it), but you can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook 5 Add more flour if needed to create a dough. You want it to spring back and not be too sticky 6 If mixing by hand knead a few times on a floured surface (this is my favorite part) when you poke the dough it will spring back at you if it is ready. 7 Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size 8 Plums: 9 Cut plums in half, remove pits and place in a bowl with lemon juice 10 Assembly: 11 Grease a 13 x 9 glass baking dish 12 Take the dough out of the proofing bowl and roll out into a rectangle and press into the baking dish 13 arrange the plums on top of the dough pressing them down firmly 14 pour the lemon juice over the plums along with the butter 15 Sprinkle with sugar 16 Cover with plastic wrap; let proof for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350° F 17 After it has risen for a second time bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until the top is golden, the juices are bubbling and the dough the glass is nicely browned 18 Serve warm, or have it room temperature for breakfast the next morning, or really anytime

About

This recipe is family treasure. It’s one of the few things I hope my future children will learn and keep passing down the way my dad’s mom taught my mom and she taught me. I feel like I’m part of a bigger picture when I make this cake. I know where it comes from, and it came a long way. The original recipe was written down in Hebrew with measurements in handfuls and made with what was available. My grandma translated and standardized the recipe in terms of cups and ingredients when she moved to America.
My dad refer’s to this as “the holy grail”. His mom used to make one in late summer and freeze it until his birthday on Christmas. Legend has it, my grandfather would keep a knife close by the cake and cut sliver by sliver to eat, until half was gone in a day. My dad has continued the tradition. He eats it for breakfast, after lunch, for mid-afternoon snacks and dessert…