Plum Cake with a Splash of Orange

I love Plum Wine. I love Plum Cake. I love Plum Juice. So, when I decided to tackle another recipe from the Recipes Remember cookbook by June Feiss Hersh. I knew I wanted to do the Plum Cake. I was so excited, I went out and bought pounds and pounds of plums. My refrigerator was full of plums. So, now it was time to tackle this recipe! First, I need to tell you about Hela Fisk's story.

Ruchel, was Hela's birth name. It was changed to Hela, while using false papers during the war. Hela Fisk was born in Wolysk, Poland. Prior to World War II she was married and had a son Jacob. During the German occupation, Hela and her family were sent to the Ludmir Ghetto. During World War II, the Nazi's would come and liquidate the ghetto's and send the Jews and other occupants of the ghetto to the labor camp. While Hela, was out trying to find water, the Nazi's came and liquidated the camp taking with them her husband, son and family. She was devastated. Hela, was strong and knew she had to survive. She immediately went into hiding. While in hiding, she was arrested by the Nazi's and sent to a slave labor camp. The local Germans in town turned Hela into the Nazi's and they confirmed she was Jewish. She was sent to Budzyn, where she spent the remainder of the war.

When the war ended, Hela searched for her family and found she was the only survivor of her family. She entered the Displaced Persons Camps, where she met her future second husband. Soon both came to the United States where they went their separate ways. Soon after, Hela found an apartment in the Bronx and started working. She met up with her second husband and they married shortly after.

Hela started a family and had twin daughters. She created a wonderful home with Jewish traditions, food and baked goods. One of these delicious baked goods is the Plum Cake. I changed a few things, but the Plum cake is amazing!! So please rush to make this delicious cake for any holiday or every day dessert.

Ingredients :

Filling:

2 pounds of Plums. Pits removed and sliced thinly.
52 grams/ 1 3/4 ounces / 1/4 cup - granulated sugar
2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

Batter:

4 Eggs
315 grams / 10.5 ounces / 1 1/2 cup - Sugar
225 grams / 8 ounces / 1 cup - Vegetable Oil
Zest of 1 Orange
112 grams / 4 ounces / 1/2 cup - Milk or Orange Juice (You can use either milk or orange juice. I prefer milk, it created a softer crumb. However, you can use the juice of the Orange that you zest combined with the milk. Or save the juice for the glaze.)
2 teaspoons - Vanilla
375 grams / 13 1/4 ounces / 3 cups - AP Flour
3 teaspoons - Baking Powder
1 teaspoon - Salt

Topping:

2 Tablespoons - Sugar
1/4 teaspoon - Cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees F

Slice Plums.

Add Sugar and Cinnamon mix and cover. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. (You can refrigerate overnight.)

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a mixing bowl, either using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, combine eggs, sugar, oil, zest, milk (or Orange Juice) and vanilla. Mix using a paddle until light. It won't be fluffy, but it will be lighter in texture and color.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat till all the ingredients are combined and smooth.

Pour a 1/3 of the batter into the pan and place the plums filling the first layer completely.
Repeat two more times so there are three layers with the last layer ending in plums.

Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350 then reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for 15 minutes then spin the cake and continue baking until a knife comes out clean. The cake can take up to an hour. Keep checking every 10 minutes to turn the cake so you have even baking. (you may have to adjust the time based on your oven.)

Using the juice of the Orange (if using milk) create a glaze with the confectioners sugar. Glaze the cake and top with some plums. (I used a lot of glaze, but that is because I love glaze!)