Shortbread Red Plum Cake Food

PLUM CAKE "TATIN"

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.
• Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the plums.
• Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.
• Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

ROASTED PLUM SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• For the shortcake biscuits: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt. Whisk to combine and evenly distribute the leavening. Add the shortening and butter and toss to coat the fat just a bit with the flour. Using your fingertips, gently work the fats into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with some pea-size chunks of fat.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg, and add this to the flour mixture. Stir together with a wooden spoon. Then, gently work through the mixture with your hands to separate any wet patches and bring the dough together.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, fold it over a few times and knead gently until it just holds together. Pat the dough into a rough 1/2-inch-tall rectangle. Cut out biscuits with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Pat the scraps together and cut an additional biscuit. You should have 6 to 8 biscuits. Evenly space the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Set aside.
• For the roasted plums: Pour the butter into a shallow baking dish and tip from side to side to coat the bottom. Add the maple syrup and orange juice, swirling to "stir" the mixture. Line the baking dish with the plums, flesh-side down.
• Bake both the biscuits and plums for about 20 minutes. Remove the biscuits when golden brown. Continue to cook the plums until the juices have thickened, about another 15 minutes. Cool completely before assembling.
• For the whipped cream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until medium peaks form.
• To assemble: Split four of the biscuits horizontally in half; reserve the remaining biscuits for another use (see Cook's Note). Place the bottom of each biscuit on a serving plate. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream, followed by a few plum slices and their juices. Top with the biscuit tops.

SHORTBREAD PLUM TART WITH HONEY AND CINNAMON

Steps:

• In a food processor, process 1 cup sugar until powdery and fine, about 1 minute. Add flour, cinnamon and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add egg and 4 egg yolks, and pulse until mixture comes together. Divide dough in half, form into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours or until firm.
• In a small saucepan, combine plums, 1 to 3 tablespoons sugar (this depends on how sweet your plums are), cinnamon, honey and rosemary sprig, if using. Simmer until jammy and thick, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer plum mixture to a bowl to cool, and remove cinnamon stick and rosemary sprig. Taste and stir in more sugar if mixture seems very tart.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch springform pan and place it on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any butter leaks.
• Between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll one of the dough halves into an 8-inch circle. Transfer dough to prepared cake pan, pressing into edges. Spoon plum compote on top of dough, leaving 3/4-inch border around edge.
• Roll second piece of dough into an 8-inch circle, transfer to pan, press around outside edge to stick the pieces together and seal in fruit.
• In a small bowl, combine remaining egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water and beat lightly. Brush over top of cake, then use a fork to score a crisscross pattern into the dough. Bake until golden brown, 1 hour (cover with foil if cake is browning too quickly). Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then run a butter knife around the inside edge of the pan and unmold from ring. Cool completely and serve.

VIENNESE PLUM CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well., Transfer to a greased 9-in. square baking dish. Top with plums. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over plums., For topping, in a small bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in walnuts if desired. Sprinkle over top., Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until topping is golden brown and plums are tender. Cool on a wire rack.

SHORTBREAD RED PLUM CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Butter or coat with cooking spray a 13x9 inch baking dish.
• For the crust: In a food processor, add all the ingredients and pulse a few times. Pat the crust into the bottom of the prepared dish. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.
• Cut the plums in half and remove the pit, cut the bananas in small slices, sprinkle with a Tb of sugar, set aside.
• For the Cake: Mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
• In the bowl of stand mixer (or hand held mixer), cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time and beating well, scraping the bowl if necessary, after each addition.
• Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Spread the batter over the shortbread base. Place the plums and bananas (if using) on top of the cake in rows of 4 or so, depending on their size. Do not worry if they seem to stick out, the batter rises around them. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Ready!

GERMAN PLUM CAKE (PFLAUMENKUCHEN)

Steps:

• Lightly butter an 8x8 inch (20x20cm) baking dish or tin. Mix together the dry ingredients for the base - flour, sugar, yeast and salt - in a medium bowl.
• Put the butter and milk into a small microwavable dish and warm in 15 second intervals to gently warm the milk and melt the butter. The butter should be just melting and the milk lukewarm. Add this mixture (left to cool first, if too warm), the egg yolk and the vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix all together.
• Knead the dough gently for a minute or two - it should be soft but not wet so add a little more flour if too wet, or milk if it seems to crumble from being dry. Then, press the dough into the buttered baking dish. Press it right to the corners, flat across the bottom then slightly up at the edges.
• Cut the plums in half, along the bit that looks like a seam, then remove the stone. Cut each plum half in half. Arrange the plum quarters over the base as tightly as you can, ideally in rows, cut side up. Leave the dish at warm room temperature to let the dough rise slightly for approximately 1 hour (don't worry if it doesn't obviously change much).
• As the rest time is about done, preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Sprinkle the 1/2tbsp of sugar over the plums, if using.
• Rub together the flour, cinnamon, butter and sugar for the streusel then sprinkle it evenly over the plums.
• Bake the cake for approximately 30 -35 minutes, until the top is gently starting to brown and you can see the plums have softened underneath. Let the cake rest for around 10 minutes before cutting into slices. Works well as it is, both warm or at room temperature, as well as with cream.

SHORTBREAD FUDGE CAKE

Steps:

• Beat 1 cup softened butter in a large mixing bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.Stir together 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating until crumbly. Stir in pecans.
• Press dough into an ungreased 13- x 9-inch pan.
• Bake at 350 °F for 25 minutes or until golden.
• Microwave chocolate morsels and 3/4 cup butter in a 2-quart glass bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring twice.
• Whisk in eggs, vanilla, remaining 1 cup granulated sugar, and remaining 1/2 cup flour until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over prepared crust.
• Bake at 350 °F for 25 minutes or until set. (Do not overbake.) Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 24 bars. Transfer bars to wax paper; dust with powdered sugar. Store bars in an airtight container. If desired, serve with whipped cream or ice cream, and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

SHORTBREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the butter and 140g sugar in a food processor and whizz until smooth.
• Tip in both the flours and a pinch of salt, then whizz until mixture comes together.
• Using your hands, roughly spread the mixture out in a 20 x 30 x 4cm baking tray. Cover with cling film and smooth over until there are no wrinkles. Place in the fridge, uncooked, for at least 30 mins and up to 2 days.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Remove cling film, then lightly mark the shortbread all over with a fork.
• Sprinkle with the remaining sugar, then bake for 20-25 mins.
• Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into 24 thin slices. Shortbread will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.