This weeks Tuesday with Dorie was chosen by Michelle of Bake-en she selected the Dimply Plum Cake on page 41 of Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I had a few problems with this recipe. First, I was borrowing some cardamom from a friend and it ended up opening and spilling in my messenger bag. So now my bag smells all SPICY!! My next problem was with the plums. I decided that since the plums are bigger to buy fewer than what Dorie suggested, but I ended up being one plum short. Finally, removing the seed from the plums was a pain in the butt. I ended up trying to cut around the seed and then tried to pry it out and the tip of my paring knife broke off. That plum was a strong sucker. In the end I got a spoon out and pried the seed out with that.
For this recipe I was afraid to use the 8×8 baking pan that was suggested and ended up using a square spring form pan so that I did not ruin the cake while turning it out. This actually made the cake thinner since I think the spring form pan is 9-inches (maybe). The cake actually turned out very well. The flavor was fantastic with the cardamom, orange zest, and plums. But the cake was a little dry for me, and I didn’t even over bake the cake. I did it for 40 minutes on 350°F, and I have an oven thermometer too. I ended up having to use a knife and a fork to eat this since I think the plums were a tad bit too firm. My favorite part of the cake was the bits with the plum and the area around it because it was moist and perfect.
I have a few things that I would like to change for next time. First I would slice the plums up so that more surface area was covered and every bite would have a piece of plum. This would also help with eating the cake too because then you wouldn’t need to use a knife. Next, I would love to try this using the peach and basil option that dorie suggested. Finally, I think that this cake would be awesome if it was the texture of a pound cake instead of cornbread. Yes, it would increase the calories, but the flavor and texture of the cake would be greatly improved. Oh yeah, and don’t use a knife to pry a seed out of a plum; your knife tip might fly off and hit the cieling and then you will never find it 🙂
When in Doubt...Leave it at 350 
I ate mine with a knife and a fork too 🙂
i totally agree with you, on every point. at the end of all that, though, we should just make a different recipe!
Your cake looks delicious! I’d love to see the results of some of your variation ideas.
hee hee we also ate ours with a fork…and ice cream! i made mine with apples and cinnamon and white wheat flour..love the variations!
I had mine with a fork and whipped cream and it was delicious. Perhaps the larger pan made it cook faster and dried the cake out somewhat? I added a streusel topping and I thought it was fabulous. It was my favourite recipe thus far. So sorry you had so many problems with it and that you didn’t really like it much!
Your cake looks delicious! You did buy big plums!
Wow – you had a lot of problems with this, but glad it turned out okay in the end. I agree with you that it might have been better had we sliced the plums so that there was more fruit coverage. But it looked so pretty with the halves in there!
You’re not alone–I had some problems with this one, too, though I can’t top breaking your paring knife. =) Hopefully next week’s recipe will go more smoothly for you!
Looks great! This one was surprisingly delicious to me.
Great idea to use the springform – it probably made turning it out much easier. And if you wrap it up for a day or so, it turns into more of a pound cake texture – no extra calories required!
Sorry it didn’t work out too well for you. I had the same problem with cake being dry and plums undercooked. I loved the spices and the general idea, but am not crazy about this particular version.
By the way, a round 9-inch pan has almost exactly the same area as an 8-inch square pan, so I doubt that was the problem.