by Dominic Franks
… i’ve come down to London for a couple of days to meet with potential sponsors for Mums Show Live and catch up with old friends… and i’m sitting in my mum’s living room as the most incredible sweet and heady smell wafts through the house… I walked in this morning as a plum cake went into the oven and as I write this post, mum and her gaggle of bridge-playing girlfriends make geese-sounds as they tuck-in to freshly baked cake at the half-way point in their weekly suburban gambling ritual… I swear to god, behind those suburban net curtains its like a mini-episode of Desperate Housewives with mum taking the role of Bree and her infamous baking… I don’t think they’ve murdered anyone just yet but I honestly wouldn’t put it past them… you should hear them!
… it’s funny how, even after all these years, the smell of cake baking in mums kitchen is the most incredible and comforting of all smells and although she bakes more than her fair share of cakes on a regular basis there’s still something special about walking into the kitchen as this smell permeates the air…
Victoria Plum Cake
this is the quickest of cakes to bake… it went from butter and eggs to bridge-table in under an hour, still slightly warm… mum’s recipe is hand-written and is under the title of Peach Cake or Plum Cake and then with another note saying or Nectarines or Apricots… as though she would need reminding that any stoned fruit would work here… mum used some frozen Victoria Plums which had been halved and de-stoned but I am assured that any plums will do, fresh or frozen…but because these are Victoria Plums i’m entering them (on my mum’s behalf) into this months AlphaBakes challenge… hosted alternately by Caroline from Caroline Makes and Ros from The More than Occasional Baker for which we have to bake something under the letter V…
2oz ground almonds
5oz self raising flour
5oz butter or margarine
4oz light brown sugar
half teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
6 plums – stoned and cut into eighth’s
– pre-heat oven to 170C
– grease and line a round spring-form tin
– in a bowl, cream the butter till light and fluffy, add one egg and beat in, then add half the flour and the cinnamon and beat in
– repeat with the second egg and then the rest of the flour
– beat in the milk till you have a soft batter
– pour half the batter into the cake tin, lay the plums on to this, then pour the remainder of the batter on top.
– bake for 40 mins or until golden
– sprinkle with icing sugar and eat with friends
eat and of course, enjoy!
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Comments
Magnolia Verandah saysCake and fruit combos are just so good. What a lovely rush of nostalgia baking smells give – I just love it. Oooh and slightly warm to the table – what a treat.
- Ruth Ellis says
Mum-made cakes are the best! Childhood smells of rock buns and sponge cakes with hundreds and thousands on :o) Thanks for kickstarting my Monday morning with some happy memories. What a delicious looking cake – the chunks of plum and still-warm sponge sound heavenly.
- simple baking says
Love fruits in bakes. This one's sure a keeper as it would go beautifully with a number of fruits. Thanx for sharing.
- Rosie Swaffer says
That looks absolutely gorgeous!
Mum's are the best, mine always makes makes me something lovely to eat, puts a little posey of flowers from the garden on my beside table and a hot water bottle under the duvet! Love her
- Kavey says
Always something special about the smells in one's mum's kitchen, I think. For me, when mum's kitchen smells of her lamb curry or keema or tandoori chicken, that's when I salivate most… though the aromas of her making strawberry jam are a close second!
I bake a very similar plum cake that my family loves.
Enjoy your stay in London.- Jean says
Ooh what a lovely recipe.
I love Victoria plums and can hardly wait for ours to be ready. But without any sun they could easily be a failure this year. Now that looks like a great cake to have with a nice cuppa! Mmmmm
- Corina says
Sounds lovely and it's made me crave my own mum's plum cake!
- Mark Willis says
I wonder if your Mum reads your blog, Dom…
Oh yes Mark. She's my biggest fan!!
That's so sweet! I think I may have just grown out of that stage…
- Jenn says
The cake looks lovely, but the post makes me miss my mom!!!
- Susan Lindquist says
Well, when Mum reads this entry she will swoon a bit that her grown son still melts into the couch and feels all cozy and warm when she bakes that perfect plum sponge!
Such a dear post, Dom …Mum's lucky to have you as a son!
- Janice says
Great recipe and very amusing post. I'm sure your Mum was thrilled to be compared to Bree, or haven't you told her? ha ha!
- Caroline says
We've now got three people's mums entering Alphabakes, brilliant! Next time you're in London Dom why don't you stop over and say hi? 🙂 Good luck with the Mums Show Live, great idea (I would come if I were a mum!)
Have you noticed that tea always tastes better at your mom's house.? I swear I can't have a cup of tea anywhere else that tastes as wonderful. Your mom's plum cake looks delicious and I love that there isn't a laundry list of ingredients. Glad to got to have a piece.
- Baking Addict says
Brilliant “V” for AlphaBakes and one I only thought of a few days ago when I was brainstorming ideas. Nothing beats mum's homemade cake and this looks delicious! Thanks for entering AlphaBakes.
- Phil in the Kitchen says
Lovely cake – I can just imagine that baking smell. I never did quite understand the attraction of bridge, though, despite spending many long hours and bottles of wine trying.
- Karen S Booth says
FABULOUS post, so wonderfully written and a lovely recipe…..I am captivated, and have bookmarked this to make sometime soon….THANK your mum from me! Karen
What a gorgeous classic cake, the ground almonds and plums sound divine. I'd make little geese-noises too if I had a piece right now!
- Mummy says
Of course I read Dom's blog – thanks for all the lovely comments – anything baking in the oven smells wonderful. Getting compared to Bree well that's got me thinking! xx Mum
- Working london mummy says
lovely recipe – cinnamon and plums in a cake sounds divine to me. Thank your mum for us!
- Caroline says
It sounds great – I do love a cake with fresh fruit in it! Plums and cinnamon is always a good combination too. I really like the crumb shot of the cake too.
- Kate@whatkatebaked says
Its absolutely true! The tempting wafts of freshly baked treats from Mum's kitchen always smell just that little better! And what a lovely, lovely recipe Dom- we now all know where you get your talent from!
- Anonymous says
No mention of when to add the sugar or the almond meal. I worked it out, but no one seems to have mentioned this?
