Almond Plum Buckle
In an effort to try and eat more fruit, I bought some plums………I thought Tim liked plums. Turns out he wasn’t sure he did…..oops. They sat in the fridge a few days and then I remembered a recipe from Epicurious.com……Almond Plum Buckle. A long time ago, when I first started to really get into cooking, someone gave me a bunch of plums. I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so I went on the search for a recipe.
Now, when I first started to…… surf the web…….does anyone say that anymore? Epicurious.com was my go to site for everything. I spent hours and hours searching the site for just the right recipe. Which is how I came across Almond Plum Buckle.
What is a buckle you ask………..time for a lesson ……..the term Buckle is a type of cake made in a single layer with fruit added to the batter. It is usually made with blueberries. The topping is similar to a streusel, which gives it a buckled or crumpled appearance.
This does not have the traditional streusel type topping, just almonds and sugar……….turbinado sugar. I love this stuff, it gives whatever you put it on a nice crunchy sugary crust. Adding the almonds…….well it just made it almondier………don’t judge , sometimes I just make up words!
The almonds and sugar are the only changes I made to the original recipe that was published in Bon Appetit in July of 2006. It reminds me of coffee cake but not quite as crumbly. I served it with ice cream , but a dollop of whipped cream would be awesome also.
If you love almonds, cake, and plums you will love this buckle. Plus it is so pretty to look at, it is a perfect show off dish. But your secret is, its easy to make.
When Tim was taking the pictures he commented on how nice it looked, and after he ate it he said it was “plum good”!
Almond Plum Buckle
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes plus 20 cooling time
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1/2 cup whole almonds (about 2 1/2 ounces)
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup plus 4 teaspoons sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1/4 pounds plums (about 8 medium), halved, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper round.
- Finely grind almonds in processor. Transfer to medium bowl; whisk in flour, baking powder, and salt. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar; beat until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extract, then flour mixture just until incorporated.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan; spread evenly and smooth top with spatula. Gently press plum slices, flesh side down, into batter in spoke pattern around outer rim and center of cake, placing close together. Sprinkle slivered almond and turbinado sugar over plums.
- Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 20 minutes. Run small knife between cake and pan sides to loosen. Invert cake onto platter; remove parchment paper. Place another platter atop cake. Using both hands, hold both platters firmly together and invert cake, plum side up. Cool cake completely. Cut into wedges.
