Dried Plum Butter Stack Cake Food

DRIED-PLUM-BUTTER STACK CAKE

Steps:

• Dried-plum butter: Bring dried plums, orange juice, lemon zest and juice, and 2 cups water to a boil in a covered medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until fruit is beginning to break down, 35 to 40 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup water, brown sugar, and salt, mashing mixture with the back of a spoon until jam-like. Transfer to a medium bowl; let cool completely. Dried-plum butter can be stored in refrigerator, covered, up to 1 week.
• Cookies: Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat butter with sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with milk, until combined. Divide dough into 9 pieces. Shape into disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Working with one dough piece at a time (keep the rest in refrigerator), roll out on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a roughly 8 1/2-inch round. Using a paring knife and a cake pan or plate as a guide, cut dough into an 8-inch round. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; refrigerate while rolling and cutting remaining dough pieces, placing 2 rounds on each sheet.
• Bake cookies in batches until golden and firm in center, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
• Place 1 cookie on a cake plate and spread with 1/2 cup dried-plum butter, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Top with another cookie and spread with another 1/2 cup dried-plum butter. Continue stacking and spreading until all 9 cookies have been used. (Do not spread filling on top layer.) Wrap in plastic; refrigerate at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• Serve, dolloped with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon.

OLD-FASHIONED STACK CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with molasses and buttermilk, beating well after each addition., Drop 2 scant 1/4 cupfuls of batter, at least 7 in. apart, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. With well-floured fingers, pat each into a 5- to 6-in. circle. Bake 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter., To assemble, place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 2 tablespoons apple butter. Repeat layers 4 times; top with a sixth layer. Repeat to make 2 more stack cakes. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. If desired, serve with additional apple butter.

DRIED-APPLE STACK CAKES

Steps:

• Simmer all filling ingredients and a pinch of salt in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot, uncovered, stirring occasionally and mashing apples with a potato masher as they soften, until a thick purée forms, about 1 1/2 hours. Cool completely.
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter muffin cups.
• Stir together milk and vinegar and let stand 10 minutes to curdle.
• Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cloves.
• Beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in molasses and egg. At low speed, add flour mixture in 3 batches alternately with curdled milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until each addition is just incorporated. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon batter in each muffin cup and bake just until a wooden pick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean with some crumbs adhering, 11 to 13 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pans on racks, then invert onto racks to cool completely.
• Spread about 2 tablespoons filling on top of 1 cake and invert another cake over filling, then spread a heaping tablespoon filling on top. Make 11 more stacks (you will have about 2 cups filling left over). Transfer to an airtight container and chill at least 2 days for flavors to develop. Bring to room temperature before serving.

PLUM UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 3 tablespoons butter in an 8-inch round cake pan; melt in preheating oven, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle melted butter with 1/2 cup brown sugar. Arrange overlapping plum wedges in a circle around edge of pan; repeat in center, covering bottom of pan. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together remaining 6 tablespoons butter, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and egg. Beat in sour cream until blended. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin-pie spice, and walnuts. Stir flour mixture into sour-cream mixture until just combined (batter will be thick).
• Spread batter evenly over plums. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan; invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.

SUGAR PLUM BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a small saucepan, combine dried plums, water and 2 tablespoons sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat; let stand until plumped, about 10 minutes. Drain plums, reserving fruit and liquid. Measure liquid, adding enough water to yield 1/2 cup. , Cream shortening and remaining sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in egg. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with cooking liquid; fold in cooled dried plums (batter will be thick)., Transfer batter to a greased 8x4-in. loaf pan. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs, 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

PLUM STREUSEL COFFEECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a 9-inch round or square baking pan at least 2 inches deep.
• Make streusel:
• In a food processor pulse together streusel ingredients until combined well and crumbly.
• Make cake batter:
• In a bowl with an electric mixer beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and vanilla. Sift in flour with baking powder and salt and beat until just combined.
• Spread cake batter in pan, smoothing top, and arrange plum slices over it in slightly overlapping concentric circles. Sprinkle streusel over plum slices and bake cake in middle of oven 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Coffeecake may be made 1 week ahead: Cool cake completely in pan on a rack and freeze, wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil. Reheat cake, unwrapped but not thawed, in a preheated 350°F. oven until heated through, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake slightly on a rack and sift confectioners' sugar over it. Serve coffeecake warm or at room temperature.

DRIED PLUM CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease and flour a 11x9-inch pan.
• Blend sugar and canola oil together in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer. Add eggs, flour, prunes, allspice, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add buttermilk, pecans, and vanilla extract and combine. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
• While cake is baking, mix buttermilk, sugar, butter, and vanilla extract together in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until it begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Pour glaze over cake when it comes out of the oven.
• Let glazed cake cool completely, about 30 minutes. Cut into squares.

PLUM CAKE

Steps:

• To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan with butter.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each. Mix in the zest and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan.
• Place half of the cut plums on the batter, cut-side up. Spread the remaining batter over the plums. Spread the batter into an even layer and top with remaining plums.
• To make the topping: In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and melted butter. You may have to mix it with your hands to get all the butter incorporated.
• Spread the crumb topping over the plums evenly.
• Place the cake on two stacked cookie sheets, to prevent the bottom from getting too brown during the long baking time. Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a tester come out clean. Cool on a rack.
• Serve it slightly warm or at room temperature.

PLUM UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Pour melted butter into 13x9 pan.
• Sprinkle toasted walnuts and brown sugar evenly in pan.
• Cut plums in half and remove pits, cut each half into 4 pieces and arrange over walnuts, overlapping pieces.
• Prepare cake mix as directed on package, adding vanilla and almond extracts.
• Pour batter over plums.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and immediately loosen edges of cake with a knife.
• Invert cake onto a serving plate.
• Drizzle cake with any remaining brown sugar from cake pan.

DRIED PLUM RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BUTTER

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, dried plums, parmesan cheese, garlic and pepper. Set aside. For each ravioli, brush edges of 1 wrapper with egg white. Place 2 teaspoons plum mixture onto center. Fold diagonally in half to form a triangle; seal edges, pressing to remove any air pockets. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers. Refrigerate on wax paper lined baking sheet until ready to cook(up to 2 hours).
• Meanwhile, in small saucepan, cook butter and sage over medium high heat until butter begins to turn brown. Remove from heat and keep warm. In large saucepan, add half of the ravioli to boiling water. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until tender. Using a slotted spoon, remove ravioli to individual serving bowls. Repeat with remaining ravioli. Drizzle each serving with sage butter.