high-bar baking

I feel the need to clarify that when I say bounty, I’m referring to Thanksgiving and not to Boba Fett. You know, for all the nerds like me who were going to be genuinely confused. 

My friends moved into a new house that came with a couple of plum trees. I obviously offered to take some off of their hands — summer fruit baking is so delightful, and they had too many to handle. I thought they were going to be normal sized plums. I showed up to discover that they’re little baby plums! So darling, so cute. Why are we all so attached to things in the miniature? My sister sent me a picture of a store display filled with tiny copies of books, and I squealed out loud. Regular things — but littler!

So I picked a whole bounty of plums. And did a little bit of snacking. Outdoor work is hard work, people. I needed the sustenance. They were delicious. Plums are lovely in that even if they’re a little overripe, the skin is still so tart that it manages to balance things out. I wasn’t sure how many I’d need for my recipes (which called for adult-sized plums), and I supposed I’d be able to use my cherry pitter to handle the pits in these grape-sized fruits. 

I was not able to do that, unfortunately. These plums are mostly juice. I tried to use a paring knife… it wasn’t pretty. I didn’t so much as pit the plums as peel them. And the drop the nearly empty carcasses into a slosh of juice. And pretend that was fine. 

You know what? It was. I made Zoë’s Plum Cake and was deeply pleased with it. I love the assortment of flours (AP, almond, and whole wheat), and the plums get all jammy and perfect. But the cake isn’t wet! And the cinnamon on top (reused from my snickerdoodles the night before, A+ on not having done the dishes yet) somehow infuses the whole cake with a little bit of intrigue. 

I hope you find some bounty this summer. Eat something right off a tree. Taste some sunshine.