08 German Plum Cake (from Sapphic77777)

Easy German Plum Cake
Translated from a German recipe post and submitted by Sapphic77777
Edited by PhDR :-}



Working time: about 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy

The cake:
125 g butter, room temperature
125 g sugar
1 pack vanilla sugar*
2 eggs
175 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g Almond (s), unpeeled, powdered
The topping:
750g plums, pitted, halved
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.
2. Mix the ingredients for the cake to prepare a sponge mixture.
3. Line a 26-cm springform pan with baking paper and pinch the edge of the paper. If the paper doesn’t cover all surface of the mold, grease the exposed surface. Pour the sponge cake mixture and smooth the top.
4. Stick plum halves with the tip into the dough, close and tight. Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with aluminum foil (non-reflective side of the foil facing out) to trap leaked juices.
4. Bake for approx. 70 min on middle rack.
5. Before serving, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

*****

Danke, schatz!

Sapphic made me curious about her vanilla sugar. I thought it was vanilla extract, but she said it wasn't and sent me a photo of a packet of vanillin zucker. Then I did more search.

*Vanilla Sugar is actually confectioners' sugar with infused vanilla 'fragrance.' There is a how-to for it, but if we're not in a bakery business and if it's not conveniently available like it is in Germany, it may be easier to just stick with plain confectioners' sugar. :-}

German Vanilla Sugar (Vanillezucker)

By Kim D. at http://www.food.com/recipe/german-vanilla-sugar-vanillezucker-228962

Ingredients:

Yield: 4 cups

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 vanilla bean (7-9 inches long)

Directions:

1 Place sugar in a 1-2 quart glass jar that has a tight fitting scew-on lid.
2 Cut vanilla bean so it fits into jar and push it down into the sugar.
3 Place lit tightly on jar and allow to sit for at least 3 day before using.
~NOTE~ This will keep for a very long time. As you use the sugar, you can replace it. The vanilla bean will be good as long as it is fragrant.