What to do with a plethora of plums

Why... make plum cake! 

Two years ago, I visited my friend MaryEllen.  It was early autumn, just around the time it is right now, and as we stepped outside to get some of that fresh fall air, she asked if I would like some plums.  "Sure," I said, not sure from where exactly she was going to pull these plums.  Turns out her grandpa's tree next door was completely overloaded with the little purple fruits.  Clearly, it needed assistance.  And so we got to helping.  We had such a great afternoon picking plums in the sunshine.  I went home with several bags, by that time unsure of myself, and what exactly I would do with all these plums.

Fast forward to October 2010.  I opened my little, very full, apartment-size freezer and decided that I had to do something about its sorry state of affairs.  Out come the packages of beef, out come the containers of soup stock, and from the very back... an old yogurt container with only black marker on the lid to give a clue to the contents.  "Unsweetened pureed plums".  Hmm... do 2-year-old containers of frozen plums even taste good any more?  I wanted to find out.

I let the container thaw in my fridge for a couple days (um... a few days - life is busy!) and finally peeked inside.  I saw perfectly thawed, juicy deep purple plum sauce.  A little spoonful was pleasantly received and I was off to Google to inquire about recipes.  After a little poking here and there, and discovering many recipes requiring sliced plums, whole plums, and halved plums, I finally came across one on an obscure science fiction blog (of all things!) calling for plum puree.  Looking Glass Plum Cake paired with homemade caramel fit the bill.

So sorry I don't have more pictures, but it was sliced up so quickly at work, this is all I got.  Take my word for it - it was delicious.  It even had that nice crisp crust that comes from buttering your pan with real butter.  If you somehow end up with as many plums as I did again this season, and you are at your wit's end and decide to stew and puree a boxful, this will be your go-to dessert.

Eat well!
~Ri