Plum Cake

Advocate staff photo by RICHARD ALAN HANNON Hanna Zaruski's Polish Plum Cake. MAGS OUT / INTERNET OUT/ONLINE OUT/NO SALES/TV OUT/FOREIGN OUT/ LOUISIANA BUSINESS INC./GREATER BATON ROUGE BUSINESS REPORT/225/10/12/IN REGISTER/LBI CUSTOM PUBLICATIONS OUT/

Plum Cake

Serves 8. Recipe is from Hanna Zaruski, who says, “This is almost like a pound cake, a little denser, topped with fresh plums.”

3 eggs

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1 tsp. lemon zest

3 tbls. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

½ tsp. baking powder

11/2 lbs. fresh plums (can substitute other seasonal fruits, such as peaches, nectarines or apricots), cut in halves

Powdered sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch pan

2. Separate the eggs. In one bowl beat the egg whites in a small bowl until stiff peak forms.

3. In a second bowl cream the butter with sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, sour cream and vanilla.

4. In a third bowl stir together flour and baking powder. Beat the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture until well blended. Fold in the egg whites.

5. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Arrange the plums on the batter skin side down.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes clean.

7. Remove from oven and top slightly with optional powdered sugar.