Eat This While You Read That: Mel Dunay

Plum Cake

When I decided to restart this series promoting authors, I was very pleased to get a book and a dish from Mel. I’ve really been enjoying reading her work over the last couple of years, and I think you might like it as well. You can find the whole list of authors and dishes here at my website.

She suggested plum cake and cider from her book Wolf ‘s Trail, where they appear served at a festival. While I don’t expect an author to give me a direct tie-in to the book, it’s always fun when they do! So grab your copy of Wolf’s Trail, and prepare for some relaxed reading time while this cake is in the oven!

Plum Cake

preheat oven to 350F

Prepare a 9” round springform pan by lining it with a parchment paper round covering the bottom. Grease the walls of the pan.

Roughly chop 7-8 dried plums¹ and rehydrate in 2 tbsp brandy for 13-30 minutes.

Slice and pit 1 lb ripe plums (about 5-6 plums depending on the type and their size)

In a large mixing bowl, sift:

• 1 3/4 c cake flour

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt²

Cream together:

• 1/2 c room temperature butter

• 1 c sugar

• 1 egg

Add in spices:

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp cardamom

Alternate adding in the dry ingredients with:

• 1 c milk

When batter comes together, pour into a 9” round springform pan which has been prepared as above.

Arrange plums on top of the batter, they will sink so don’t worry too much about making it pretty!

Sprinkle 2 tbsp raw or demerara sugar over top of the plums and cake.

Bake for 55-6 minutes until firm in the center (tester may not come out clean due to the plums).

Makes a very moist, dense cake which holds together well for eating while wandering around a festival!

You could easily pour a sauce over this cake, I wound up not making one and it’s so moist you don’t need it! This is a very plummy cake, indeed.

Happy Reading while you snack!

1. Yes, I know dried plums are prunes. That word scares some people. Also, if you’ve dried some plums you grew, they may not technically be prunes as those are a specific kind of plum. And now you know!

2. Unless using salted butter, in which case reduce to 1/4 tsp.