Plum Sour Cream Kuchen

Plum Sour Cream Kuchen
From The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book

Prep time: 15 minutes or so
Baking time: 1 hour & 20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out dry and clean)

Makes: 1 cake

Ingredients:
Cake:
4 large plums, pitted and cut into ¼” thick slices
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbsp grated orange zest (from half a large orange)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sour cream
½ cup pecan pieces
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Glaze:
¾ cup apricot jam

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and grease a 10” spring form pan. Dust with flour and set aside.

2. Toss sliced plums with brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate large bowl, combine sour cream and vegetable oil.

4. Using a mixer (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer) beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in the orange zest and vanilla. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, alternating with the sour cream mixture. (Canadian Living suggests 3 additions of dry and 2 of wet). Scrape into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

5. Arrange the plum slices in 2 concentric circles on top, leaving about ½” between circles.

6. Bake in the center of the oven for one hour and 20 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for at least 20 minutes before removing the sides.

Canadian Living says you can make the cake up to this point and cover with plastic wrap, stored at room temperature for a day or overwrapped in heavy duty tin foil in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

For the glaze: (we had it without and it was sweet enough for us, but…)
Transfer the cake to a flat serving plate. In a small saucepan or microwavable bowl, melt the jam and strain and brush over the top of the cake. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.