Pflaumenkuchen (Plum cake)

Ingredients

3-1/2 C flour

1-1/4 C milk

1/3 C sugar

1/2 t salt

1/4 C butter

2 pkgs. active dry yeast (1/4 oz. ea.)

5 lbs. Italian plums

Powdered sugar for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven to 150 degrees.

Mix the butter, sugar and milk in a saucepan over low heat until warm but not hot. Add the two packages of yeast and stir to completely dissolve sugar and yeast.

Sift the salt and a portion of the flour into a large bowl. Push flour toward the sides of the bowl to form a hole in the middle; pour in the liquid mixture. Starting from the inside edge of the hole, gradually stir the flour into the liquid, forming a soupy consistency like thin cake batter.

Turn off the oven. Cover the bowl with a towel; set in the oven with the door open for about 20 minutes until the mixture starts to bubble and rise—it should about double in size and consistency. Take the mixture out of the oven and turn oven back on at 200 degrees.

Mix the doubled batter with the rest of the flour, first with a spoon and then with your hands, until it forms a ball and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Knead for five minutes.

Turn the oven off again. Put the dough ball back into the bowl, cover with a towel, and place in the oven with the door open until dough almost doubles again.

Take out of the oven; turn the oven back on at 200 degrees. Knead the dough for five more minutes. Roll out into an oiled 11x16 inch pan and push the edges up the sides, like making a deep-dish pizza.

Cut the Italian plums in half, leaving one side connected. Remove the pit and slit each half part way down (see diagram). Stand the plums in the dough with the points up, filling the sheet.

Turn the oven off and put in the cake, this time with the door closed. Let rise one more time till the edges are puffy (about 20 minutes). Now turn the oven back on at 350 degrees, and bake for about 30 minutes until the crust starts turning brown.

Remove cake from the oven and cool to room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

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