back to school, join hands for the fall

[harborshore]

So it's September. School starts today (English for Academic Research--yes, it's a mandatory course), I turn 25 in 10 days (this feels less daunting than it did last week, which is nice), and my cat has decided to make up for the malfunctioning heater in my room by lying on my feet. Things are--I don't know, I like life today. I've edited someone else's story (♥), I've eaten a stellar breakfast consisting of unsweetened yoghurt, shredded apples, cereal and lemon zest, and made a chicken sandwich from last night's leftovers.

Also, last night I made Dimply Plum Cake from the plums my grandmother brought over. As much as the end of summer is a little sad, the fact that fall means harvest makes up for a hell of a lot.





Honestly, I don't care that some of the plums sank into the cake, giving it a somewhat interesting (read: lopsided and scrunchy) look. This was amazing. I made it with lemon zest instead of orange zest, because I don't like it when cakes get too sweet, and it worked out so, so well. I took it out about two minutes too early, so it was still slightly unbaked in the middle, but that also meant the edges weren't dry. And oh man, this cake was seriously fantastic.

So. If you have plums or any other tart fruit and you don't know how to get rid of it all, make this. I'd say adjust the spices a little if you use sweet fruit (the recipe suggests substituting peaches, for instance), but I'm sure it can be made to work for that as well.


ETA: I like my mandatory course! Sweet.

Also, leave it to Mikeyway to post the most hilarious response to the Oasis situation (someone write me Noel Gallagher as Terminator, quick! *giggles helplessly*). He's kind of my favorite, that one. (Mikey, not Noel.) Kind of a lot.

Comments

[strange-bt-true.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced that it's made of magic. My mom went from "I don't really like sweets" to "is there more? BRING ME ANOTHER PIECE" which was awesome. I love that it isn't too sweet, the lemon zest was definitely a good idea. :D

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Magic cake! \o/ It's also super-good the day after, btw. I mean, in case you make a bigger batch next time. I think I'm going to double the recipe tomorrow; we have a lot of plums to get rid of.

I'm so thrilled to hear your modifications worked so well, it makes me want to experiment a lot more with different fruits and flavorings, oh man. What kind of plums did you end up using? I mean, what color were they?

[strange-bt-true.livejournal.com]

I was really worried, especially about the vanilla. I don't know how much impact the nutmeg had (I probably used somewhere between an eighth and a quarter of a teaspoon because I didn't want it too overpowering?) and I used a bit more lemon zest than the recipe called for, but it all went super. Next time, I think I'll add a little more cinnamon? Also, I used red plums! Here's a link to a picture, mine looked exactly like that. http://z.about.com/d/localfoods/1/0/N/6/-/-/RedPlumsSantaRosa.jpg

I think doubling the recipe is a good idea, considering how fast this one went!

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Red plums! I used red plums too. And the nutmeg probably had a little bit of an impact--it's the kind of thing you don't want to notice, because then it's all you can taste. Oooh, a bit more cinnamon, yes.