There’s an interesting article in today’s New York Times’ Food and Dining section about school cafeteria lunches. A few groups of concerned parents have started to get the ball rolling on making more nutritious lunches available at school cafeterias. It’s an [...]]]>

There’s an interesting article in today’s New York Times’ Food and Dining section about school cafeteria lunches. A few groups of concerned parents have started to get the ball rolling on making more nutritious lunches available at school cafeterias. It’s an uphill battle, but in my opinion, a noble cause. Check it out: “Schools’ Toughest Test: Cooking”.

It is indeed appalling and shocking that most of New York’s school cafeterias are barely equipped to boil water, much less cook fresh meals. And proponents of the new “Wellness in Schools” campaign find themselves battling the processed food industry, budget limitations, as well as the lack of trained cooks. It is kind of sad, really, because I don’t believe that you need to spend a lot to cook fresh, nutritious food. There are so many obstacles in the way of these nutritious meals that really shouldn’t be there.

Anyway, speaking of easy and fresh, I made Orangette’s Plum Crumble this morning for breakfast. I don’t know what it is about Orangette’s recipes, but I always want to cook them, while I’m often bored with the recipes in cooking magazines. I don’t know that this recipe is exactly nutritious – it does have fresh plums, but also ¾ cup of sugar and several tablespoons of butter. It sure tasted good though. The “crumble” part is just rough and crisp enough to form the perfect contrast to the warm, soft, plummy filling, and there is just the right amount of spice to let the flavour of the plums shine through.

You can read the recipe at Orangette’s site. I personally think just a few changes would make it more to my taste – I would use just ½ cup of sugar in the crumble (it was a bit sweet), and I reduced the butter significantly.  Otherwise it was a great recipe – just the thing for the fall season.

One of the cool things about living in China is that you are much more aware of the seasonal cycles of fruits and vegetables.  Other than a few staple vegetables that you can get throughout the year (cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers and chilies), [...]]]>

One of the cool things about living in China is that you are much more aware of the seasonal cycles of fruits and vegetables.  Other than a few staple vegetables that you can get throughout the year (cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers and chilies), everything else is only available seasonally.

It is quite a change from being able to go to a big supermarket back in Toronto, and get anything you want, anytime you want.  Of course, we follow the seasons in Canada too – but just not to the same extent (it would be impossible given that our growing season lasts about 4 weeks…just kidding…sort of).

Now, for instance, beautiful dark purple plums are in season in Xiamen, and are selling for less than a dollar a kilogram.  They are delicious just fresh – sweet and juicy – practically a drink in a fruit, but they are so plentiful that in honour of autumn I wanted to bake something with them.

When we were in Germany, Ilse, Chris’ aunt, had taught me how to make Zwetschen Kuchen, a plum cake made with a yeasted dough.  I was short on time, however, so instead of making the yeast cake, I turned to a simple buttermilk cake recipe from Gourmet.  I lined a cake pan with sliced plums, dumped the batter on top, and voilà!  A lovely upside-down plum cake was born!

The cake was a little bit like a tart, with its thick layer of plums, a bit like a pudding with the juicy plums soaking slightly into the eggy, buttermilky cake, and quite a bit like a delicious, fruity cake.  It was, I think, one of the sexiest cakes I’ve ever made.

And then we ate it.

Upside-Down Plum Cake
Buttermilk cake batter adapted from Gourmet

4-5 medium plums, thinly sliced
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ stick (or ¼ of our Chinese blocks) of butter, softened
¾ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
½ cup buttermilk
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract

Grease an 8-inch cake pan and preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter and ¾ cup of sugar together, then add the vanilla extract and egg and whisk till smooth.  Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.  Stir until just combined.

Add an extra 2 tablespoons or so of extra butter at the bottom of the pan, and sprinkle with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.  Arrange the plum slices on top.  Scrape the buttermilk cake batter onto the plum slices and smooth.  Bake for around 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes, then carefully invert onto plate.  If any fruit sticks onto the cake pan, just stick it right back on to the cake (you might want to try lining the cake pan with a round of parchment paper to avoid this…that is what I might do next time).  Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Notes:  I like my plums pretty tart, but if you have rather unripe plums, or you like them sweeter, add some more sugar in the bottom of the pan before you lay the plums over it.  Also, you can make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to half a cup of milk and waiting a few minutes until it gets thick and creamy.  Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for this tip.