Flourless Chocolate Cake

A friend of mine recently told me he was cutting down on the white foods, flour and sugar, for health concerns. But being a chocolate addict, he asked me to whip him up a nice dessert so I decided to try out a flourless chocolate cake. I couldn't completely eliminate the sugar but I could greatly reduce it. And the addition of some nice Grand Marnier liqueur certainly helped. The cake itself is nothing very pretty to look at. When it comes out of the oven, it has a soft cracked shell on the outside. However, the rest of the cake holds its own. One bite, and you would never know there was no flour. As a side note, the cream I served it with is absolutely necessary. It cuts through the denseness and brings this cake to a whole new level.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
6 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
splash of Grand Marnier
optional: orange zest

Cream topping:
2 cups whipping cream
splash of vanilla extract
optional: 1-2 TBSP powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want the overall taste to be)

Need: 8 inch pan lined with parchment paper

1. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Add softened butter and let the two combine.
2. In one bowl, whip two eggs, 4 yolks, and half of your sugar. Gently add your melted chocolate to your mixture.
3. In another bowl, whip your 4 egg whites until white and foamy and then add the remainder of your sugar until soft peaks. Carefully incorporate your white mixture into your chocolate mixture.
4. Add your chosen flavorings. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is no longer wobbly.
5. For your cream topping: In a bowl with whisk attachment, whip your cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar to soft peaks. Put a generous dollop on top of your slice once your cake has cooled.

HOMEMADE OREOS

On a recent trip to Boston, my good friend A turned me onto Flour, a bakery opened by JoAnne Chang (which is conveniently located next to the Children's Museum in Boston as well)!! I love this woman as her story is close to my own. She started out in math/economics and at one point in her life, switched over to pastry. Her cookbook is thorough as she explains the science behind why certain things happen. I highly recommend it for beginning and experienced bakers. So for a recent and very important event at A's school, I made these homemade oreos from Ms. Chang. These are absolutely delicious, I know every ingredient going into them and cannot recommend them enough. I love how I can control the size and the amount of icing that goes into them as well! If you love oreos, you have to give these a try.

Homemade Oreos

By: Joanne Chang from the Flour Cookbook

 Makes 16-18 sandwich cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

1 egg

1.5 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Vanilla Cream Filling

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 2/3 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBSP milk

pinch of kosher salt

1. Whisk together the butter and sugar until combined. Whisk in vanilla and chocolate. Add egg and whisk thoroughly.

2. In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda until well mixed. Stir in the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. The dough will seem floury. It will resemble Play-Doh. Let set at room temperature for about 1 hour to firm up.

3. Transfer dough to parchment and shape into a log about 10 inches long and 2.5 inches in diameter and roll into parchment. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm.

4. Heat oven to 325 F.

5. Cut the dough log into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place about 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch.

7. Filling: Using a stand mixer with paddle, beat butter on low. Add confectioners sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add milk and salt.

8. Scoop about 1 TBSP of the filling onto the bottom of one cookie. Top with a second cookie, then press the cookies together to spread the filling.

9. ENJOY with a glass of milk!!!

Sweet friends

Some days I feel very lucky. Especially when I realize what great friends I get to connect with. This month,  I took an amazing trip with two amazing women to a location in Arizona where we had an unbelievable, cathartic, mindful, cleansing weekend filled with thoughts of letting go, getting out of our comfort zone, and trying new things. I have to thank M and S for such a memorable time. It's moments in time like this that really lift us and carry us through anything that life gives us. The food was inventive, the beauty was one of a kind, the horseback riding was ...well, challenging but exciting nonetheless.

I am also thankful for friends closer to home. This past weekend, I attended the funnest party I've been to in ages. It was filled with laughter, love, food (think empanadas), culture, fond memories, new bonds, and hope. Of course I had to make a little something sweet for such a sweet group of people. My caramel mousse cake with a hidden walnut base was a major hit for these discerning palettes.

Now I need to figure out what to make for this belly dancing group for our next gathering......

fig tarts

Hello dear friends! A few people have asked me if I have left cyberspace and I have not. I have, however, been adjusting to a new work schedule and my modest little blog here has taken the brunt of my neglect. On top of that, my position as an assistant pastry chef has left me a little lazy to work on desserts at home. But, now that I'm a month in and a little more adjusted, I have renewed energy!

At work, I'm surrounded by and deal with tarts, tarts, and more tarts all day long. The star of the tart is the fruit you put on it. So before all the beautiful fruits start disappearing from the farmers markets and it starts getting brisk outside, I wanted to try baking these beautiful figs into a traditional french crust with frangipane filling. The figs were juicy and sweet.  If you have underripe figs or get figs out of season (outside of summer), I recommend sprinkling a little sugar or brown sugar on top to bring out their sweetness before baking.

A secondary motive I wanted to use figs in this tart is because I recently scored the black slate you see in my pictures. The chefs in pastry school always used these black slates to display their desserts and I just think it looks so striking. The first thing I thought of when I saw the slate in the store was figs would look so good on top of that!!  For my friends from school--Donc, voila--a fig tart.

Easy Sticky Buns

Just call me a sucker for delicious morning pastries. This one is sure to please the crowds (especially my niece and nephew!). These cinnamon buns are so delicious and easy; plus, you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry. Serve with a tall glass of milk. I will be making this for company in the coming weeks...

Easy Sticky Buns
Barefoot Contessa 2008, Ina Garten

Ingredients
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3-ounces/ 2-sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
For the filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2-inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Be careful - they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.

Raspberry and Passion Fruit Mousse Verrines

My friends T & M are coming over for dinner tonite and since they just recently returned from a tropical getaway, I wanted to surprise them with a tropical-y dessert so that no one would notice that it's actually cloudy and chilly outside. What could be more tropical-y than passion fruit and raspberries? Nothing. I couldn't help but top them with the handful of blackberries and kumquats I had leftover from making fruit tarts. Whether the flavors would marry or not was not the issue (although they did!). The verrines just needed a nice pop of color and these did the trick. It also helps my campaign of getting the word out about kumquats!

Fruit Tarts

Over the weekend, my friend R hosted a girls' nite filled with creativity, cordials, and crafts. And although I couldn't be a part of it, I wanted to contribute to it. So I sent over some fruit tarts topped with my new favorite find--kumquats! I see them all the time,  had no idea how to eat them, but  remembered my friend G talking about working with them when she worked at Pierre Herme. Because I love the bright orange color, I decided to just buy a batch of them and see what they were all about. They are spectacular--anyone who likes citrus will dig these. They have a sweet outer skin and a tart inner flesh so you're supposed to eat the whole fruit.  They're packed with vitamins A&C, and have traces of calcium and iron. They really complimented the strawberries, blackberries and pastry cream I put into the fruit tarts. Because some of them have seeds, I recommend eating them sliced.  Hope the ladies' enjoyed them as much as I do!

Chocolate Macarons

What do I do when I have an excess of egg whites? I make macarons of course! These are so tricky to make. I could make 3 perfect batches and then the next batch will be a complete flop. Since I haven't made any in a couple of months, I thought I better not get too rusty so I hunkered down to make a couple of batches. I also thought they would make nice little favors to give to friends I will be seeing this weekend.
I churned out some chocolate macarons and filled them with a peanut butter concoction (recipe is courtesy of Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille) http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2008/08/chocolate-macarons-and-tropical-storm.html. My next batch will be coffee macarons filled with milk chocolate ganache...pictures to come!

Spring Break & JC Dinner #3

After this harsh winter, I was desperate to escape to somewhere warm during spring break. Since my friend C is leaving the hot Florida weather soon for a bigger city with brighter lights, I thought it appropriate to visit her in Miami one last time where we like to indulge in the hot weather and our favorite Taiwanese restaurant (Mr. Chu's in Coral Gables). I literally counted the minutes until I could run onto the beach.  The sand between my toes did not disappoint!

We did venture out onto Ocean drive a couple of times where we enjoyed dinner and music....and a couple of mojitos...

When we returned home, we had the third JC dinner to look forward to at S and M's lovely abode. I made a cream of mushroom soup with garlic croutons, parsley, and a dash of brandy; our gracious hosts made a pork loin with sauerkraut and potatoes (my FIRST encounter with sauerkraut and it was delish); N had the kid friendly dish of chicken and rice, healthy veggies, and chocolate graham crackers; and R topped it off with Pastry Cream enhanced with fresh strawberries and sugared almonds. The nite was topped off with beautiful easter decorations, hide and seek, lots of laughter, really good czech beer, and a champagne that is parenting friendly! We had so much fun we all lost track of time and rolled out of there way past our bedtimes. Thank you S and M for a wonderful meal and for hosting!

Lemon Cream Scones and a Jam Fetish

Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for jam. If I were to ever be known for having a fetish of any kind, it would be a jam one. No matter where I travel--Rome, Madrid, San Francisco, New York, I always have jam on my mind--always on the lookout for a different or exotic flavor I haven't tasted before.  My luggage is always packed with jam finds (this is where extra underwear comes in handy). The picture depicts my latest batch of jams that I must try.  Among the flavors include champagne, green tea, red bean, strawberry with violet, mango lime (my open jar right now which is DA-licious), apricot lavendar (my other open jar right now--also DA-licious), pluot, and passion fruit.  I get giddy thinking of different ways to incorporate some of these flavors into my desserts.  But at the end of the day, the way I enjoy them most is with a scone and a cup of tea.  I am constantly on the lookout for great scones and great scone recipes.  Most of the time, the scone is too sweet for me and doesn't require jam.  That's why I'm so excited to share this scone recipe. They are so light, not overly sweet, and a great vehicle to carry any jam. They're also good on their own too.  The other thing that is so great about this recipe is that there's no butter!  Well, almost none. Only a little butter brushed on the top before baking (yes there is some whipping cream in the recipe but somehow, that doesn't feel as bad). The lemon zest is the key to happiness in this recipe--do NOT omit it!! I also substituted in dried cherries and they were fantastic. Lastly, be sure to serve this with your favorite jam. Sitting down to some afternoon tea as I write....

Lemon Cream Scones
Bon Appetit, 1996

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 1/4 cups whipping cream

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Stir in apricots and 1 tablespoon lemon peel. Add whipping cream and stir just until dough forms. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently just until dough holds together. Form dough into 10-inch-diameter, 1/2-inch-thick round. Cut into 12 wedges.
Transfer wedges to large baking sheet, spacing evenly. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon peel in small bowl. Brush scones with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Bake scones until light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool slightly. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Wrap in foil; store at room temperature.) Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

A longing for spring and Meyer Lemon petit fours

Apologies for my lack of posting recently. This dreary winter weather saps a lot of motivation out of one's mind and soul. Everything can become quite gray if you let it.  Well, I'm fighting back this gloom by filling myself up with thoughts of spring, thoughts of the colors and fruits I'll soon be seeing at the farmers markets, thoughts of life.

Another rainy day called for A and I to spend a Saturday in the museum.  A loved the miniature collection that featured miniature furniture, miniature wall furnishings, even miniature table settings. He kept saying "it's so cute, it's so cute!" So I decided to surprise him by making miniature desserts tonight--desserts that I wanted to fill with spring flavors and spring thoughts. Tart shells that I filled with lemon cream and fruit. He loved the way they looked and couldn't wait to pop one in his little mouth. (The big tart was for me). With a dessert like this on the table, spring is already here.

Julia Child Dinner #2

Another wonderful dinner tonite with my JC conspirators. S made a kick-ass chicken foie with homemade aspic (yes, I said homemade). She also whipped up a delightful garlic butter and served both with a rosemary bread. Heavenly to say the least. I made beef short ribs braised in red wine, served with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes. R made the kid friendly dish of chicken meatballs with pasta that the kids went crazy for. N completed the nite with a beautiful dessert composed of layered meringue with layers of almond and kirsch buttercream and topped with chocolate buttercream. To top it all off, there was an amazing show hosted by all the children that involved singing, music, camping/fishing scenes, a limbo line, and a tent.

               S's Foie de Volaille en Aspic (Chicken Livers in Aspic) and garlic butter

                                                      N's dessert!

Going to bed happy and full!

Maida Heatter's Palm Beach Brownies

We are still snowed in and spending lots of time in front of the fireplace.  After looking through my pantry, I decided to bake up some brownies to satisfy my sweet tooth--my need to have a little something something after meals. I took out my go-to brownie recipe and decided to try something new on second thought. I had been doing some research on Maida Heatter and apparently she became famous on brownies; specifically, her Palm Beach Brownies. So I decided to give her recipe a try. The result: sinfully fudgy, almondy brownies that don't disappoint. I had to give most of them away so I wouldn't eat them all because with a glass of milk, one can do a lot of damage. I'm not a brownie connoiseur but these particular brownies taste the best the next day or after having several hours of rest after they come out of the oven. The almond extract comes through in every bite. The walnuts are of course optional but highly recommended.

Recipe adapted from Maida Heatter's Palm Beach Brownies

Preheat oven to 425F.

13 x 9 inch pan

8 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 generous cups of walnuts

5 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 TBSP + 1 tsp instant espresso powder

3 3/4 Cup sugar

1 2/3 cup flour

Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a large double boiler over hot water on moderate heat or in a small, heavy saucepan on low heat, stirring occasionally. When combined, remove from heat and set aside.

Break the walnuts into pieces if necessary, trying to keep them fairly large. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the vanilla and almond extract, salt, espresso and sugar at high speed for 10 minutes. On low speed, add the chocolate mixture and beat only until mixed. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes, reversing the pan from front to back once to ensure even baking. At the end of 35 minutes, the cake will have a firm crust and the edges may be very dark.  MUST cool or refrigerated for several hours before serving.

Pistachio Cherry Tart

I love reminiscing about friends--especially lifelong ones. So when I was recently going through my photo stack, I couldn't help but think about my friend B who I went to pastry school with in Paris. We loved this tea house I lived close to called Mamie Gateaux that had the most amazing desserts and ambiance. Among my favorites was a Pistachio Cherry Tart that was out of this world. I couldn't resist trying to replicate it today. For the crust, I used a sweet pastry dough. For the filling, I made an almond cream with pistachio paste and dried cherries. Such a great flavor combination. Such good memories!

Puffy Popovers

We are snowed in. Utterly and completely. Being stuck in the house is a great excuse to clean the house, organize, and of course, daydream. As I was staring at the tree tops filled with puffy snow, I couldn't help but think of popovers and a recipe I had been wanting to try. So this morning, at 7 a.m. sharp, I sat up and declared to myself that I was making popovers for breakfast. This recipe is so easy it's almost criminal. Not only that but it will fulfill any donut fantasies that you may have with probably 1/100th of the fat of a regular donut. This was also the perfect excuse for me to try out a package of coconut sugar that my sister, J, had just sent me last week from California. I am a coconut sugar convert now! It's made from the flower nectar of the blossoming coconut palm and the minimal process it takes to make has a minimal impact on the environment. The taste of it is amazing also -- a little caramelization and nuttiness. I preferred rolling the popovers in just plain coconut sugar. If you can't get your hands on coconut sugar, the sugar/cinnamon concoction is very delicious as well.

Puffy Popovers
recipe adapted from David Lebovitz' recipe from NY Times and Maida Heatter's Great Book of Desserts

2 TBSP melted butter
3 large eggs
1 Cup 2% milk, or whole milk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup flour

topping:
softened or melted butter
coconut sugar

1. Brush melted butter in popover mold or I used a regular sized muffin tin mold.
2. Preheat oven to 400 F.
3. In a mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the butter, eggs, milk, salt, sugar and mix.
4. Add the flour and mix well.
5. Using a ladle, fill each mold 1/2 or 2/3 the way high.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until your popovers are puffed and nicely browned.

Once out of the oven, the popovers should come out of the molds quite easily. Cool on a wire rack. After a couple of minutes, brush a popover with some softened or melted butter and roll it around in the coconut sugar. Eat immediately.

If you do not have coconut sugar, then combine:

2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

and roll in this sugar instead.
Makes 10 popovers.

who wouldn't think of a popover while staring at this tree??!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Well, it's that time of the year again. The time where A's class celebrates his 1/2 birthday (sob). As per custom, I am responsible to provide 24 treats providing that it is NOT cake, pizza, or cupcakes. Not wanting to feed 24 children ice cream or give them a sugar shock at 8:45 in the morning, I opted to make Madeleines, small shell-shaped tea cakes with a cute bump on top that you will see in absolutely every single french bakery in Paris. I struggled with whether I should make the regular sized Madeleines or the tiny pop- in- your- mouth- in- one- bite ones. In the end, I opted for the traditional sized ones, thinking that the kids would probably eat half of one at best. So it was a shock to me that after they did their little birthday ritual this morning (which consisted of going through how many times the earth has revolved around the sun since he's been born; having him lay out all the months of the year leading up to his birthday; and singing a little song to him) that every single one of those children in his class finished all of them. Not one crumb left. I was pleased as punch. It's a good thing I have some extra at home for an after school snack--for A that is.

getting help from a little aid......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A new year means new resolutions, right?? Well, the start of this year has been a delicious one.  A few friends and I have decided to start a dinner club with each of us hosting and cooking from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbooks. Inspiration came from many different corners:  love of Julia, love of food, love of trying new things, love of surrounding ourselves with friends, the love our children have for each other. Nothing could be better!

The first dinner hosted by R was a wild success. N prepared a delicious soup filled with peppers and saffron; R created a delicious beef with cream sauce, S made the kid friendly dish which was a risotto with cranberries and goat cheese which was also a perfect compliment to R's main dish. I ended the night by bringing in the douceur which was a hazelnut dacquoise topped with a praline/feuillitine mixture which is then topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate discs.  We rolled out of R's house happy and full. I'm already looking for recipes for the next dinner which I am hosting and which I will tell you all about next month!

Raspberry Lemon Mille Feuille

Goodbye summertime! It is officially fall/winter here and as soon as I had to break out the turtlenecks, I immediately had cravings for pumpkin flavors and spices. So I was surprised when I was walking through the grocery store and I spotted these bright red raspberries taunting me and beckoning me back to warmer weather. I thought it would be so refreshing to serve this after I made a definite cold weather dish: coq au vin.  It was a perfect ending to a nice fall dinner.

Raspberry Lemon Mille Feuille

(recipe adapted from Balthazar)

4 extra large egg yolks

4 extra large eggs

juice of 4 lemons

zest of 2 lemons

1/2 cup of sugar

2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature, cut up into pieces

filo dough

2 sticks butter, melted

raspberries

Combine the yolks, eggs, lemon juice, zest, and sugar in bowl that can go over a double boiler.  Whisk until smooth, pale, and thick.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the cut up butter, one piece at a time until the mixture is nice and thick.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours with plastic wrap against the surface of the lemon curd. If you take it out too soon, your lemon curd will be too runny.

Filo: Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.  Lay a sheet of filo dough on counter and brush surface with melted butter.  Repeat for all 7 sheets.  Rest the filo in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Take filo out of fridge and cut rectangles measuring 3 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches.  Arrange the rectangles on baking sheet with parchment. Sprinkle a handful of sugar over the tops of the filo.  Cover with another baking sheet to prevent it from puffing up.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Assembly: Lay a rectangle on work surface. Pipe two rows of lemon curd on bottom piece, place rasberries on top.  Place another rectangle on top and sift powdered sugar on top. Voila! A perfect summer or fall dessert.

                    

Moon Festival

Plum Streusal Coffee Cake

I go crazy for pluots this time of year. If you've never had a pluot, you need to run out and try one instantly. A cross between a plum and an apricot, a pluot (or a plumcot) is such a sweet and juicy fruit--no tartness at all. (The skins have been a little bitter this season so I've been peeling them off before devouring 3 or 4 at a time). In any case, the reason why I made plum streusal is because last time I went to the store, I saw no pluots so I decided to give plums another go. Unfortunately, they are just not as sweet as the pluots for me so I decided to bake them into something. The tartness on top of the cake is perfect and offsets the brown sugar streusal.

Plum Streusal Coffee Cake (Recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine, 1995: Plum Streusal Coffeecake)

For streusel

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened

1 teaspoon cinnamon

For cake:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5-6 plums

1. Cake: Cream the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and 1 egg at a time until incorporated.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

4. Pour into a buttered and floured 9" inch round mold.

5. Slice up the plums and layer onto the cake batter.

6. Streusal: Combine all the ingredients in food processer and pour this mixture on top of the plums.

7. Bake at 350 F for one hour or until tester comes out clean.