DIMPLY PLUM CAKE

when i saw this over at smitten kitchen, i knew i had to try it...

dorie greenspan's dimply plumcake by way of smitten kitchen

i was shopping at Trader Joe's on weds night and saw this cute 6-pak of little red plums and they screamed dorie's cake. nobody else in the house was excited about the cake, but i wasn't gonna let it go. so now i bought my plums and no one was gonna get in my way. hmmph. i couldn't get the photo out of my mind that i saw at smitten's...the one with the crispy sharp corner. i wanted to create my own crispy sharp corner...
well, as you can see, i didn't get my crispy sharp corner. kinda bummed about that. i'm just about positive i used the same 8" square. also, how the heck does one fit 4 x 4 (12 halves) on that 8" square? my plums were of the small variety and as you can see....well, mine was 3 x 3. oh well, no harm no foul.








once i got past the fact that my little cake wasn't as cute as i had hoped, i cut in. things started lookin' up. i can see why this is a popular cake. the texture, colors and aromas settled my nerves a bit.
my only reservation about the whole situation is that i didn't listen to that little chef i have in my brain nagging me, "you're only as good as the ingredients you use!". i was all finished and ready to place the prettiest plum halves when i took a big bite of a leftover half. eeeerrrg! my cute little plums had no real flavor and were quite watery. i didn't even want to finish that piece. i had on hand blueberries, mangos, strawberries and nectarine to choose from...but, i had to go with the plums. i just had to. well, it wouldn't have been dorie's dimply PLUM cake had i not... now would it?

needless to say, this cake would be fabulous with the right plums. i was told to wait 'till plum season, but noooooooooo...i didn't listen. i just couldn't wait. lesson learned? maybe. i received mediocre reviews. actually the comment was, "oooh...too tart!...well, just eat around the plum. the cake part's okay...". well, that's not the kind of feedback i like to hear so i'll be back in the kitchen firing up that oven again in the morning.

so the story goes that this cake gets better and even more moist the next day, so...here's lookin' to tomorrow.