Amy's Bakery Plum Upside Down Cake & Giveaway!

Just before the summer ended (yes, it's over) I went on a girl's trip with my daughters to NYC. It was the first time for both of them, the second for me. It was sooososo fun.

We stayed out late, and got up early. We had an agenda. It was: see all there was to see, eat all there was to eat, shop, shop, shop, show, show, collapse.

By Saturday night, when we met Corrine's friend Natalie for dinner, we were worn out! We took a list of restaurants to visit, and hit a few of them, ended up grazing most of the days, and finding all types of wonderful bakeries and treats on our outings. One of our favorite places was Amy's Bread. They have three locations: one in Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea Market and Greenwich Village. We tried several treats and also had a yummy lunch at the Greenwich location. Everything was delish. They sell a cookbook that is beautifully written, with wonderful pictures and stories about their beginning, creations, and customers who frequent their stores. I loved the book so much, I bought TWO - because, I thought, if anyone would love this book, it would be A Bountiful Kitchen reader.

I am so happy to have this collection of recipes! Can you tell I'm on a sugar high? I've been baking this morning. I'll post another "Amy's" recipe with the name of the winner, who will be selected by the random counter. Leave a post with your favorite memory (food related- of course) from summer 2009. All entries must be left by midnight Thursday, September 10th. Winner will be announced on Friday.

My favorite summer 2009 food memory has to be when I was sitting in a diner with Corrine and Brookie at about 11:30 PM after seeing a show, none of us were very hungry, but we decided to order a pizza. The waiter said "We're all out". "WHAT???" I said. "You are kidding. How can you be out of pizza?" Brooke told me to calm down. Note: Brooke just spent the whole summer working in Yellowstone, working front desk at a hotel then waiting tables, listening to cranky tourists from 7 AM till 11 PM almost every day. Ok, fine. I didn't need pizza. So, we picked another menu item. Well, actually we ordered the mac and cheese with proscuitto, the triple layer Devil's food cake with cream, and an egg cream soda. 'Cause we weren't hungry. Yeah. And we all had a good laugh.

With all of the recipes to choose from in the new cookbook, why plum cake? We have a plum tree. I don't know if it was the excessive amount of RAIN we had this spring and summer, or the cooler weather? But, the plums are HUGE. And the crop was enormous.

I had to get out the loppers (is that what they are really called, or did Grant make that up?) and cut branches, loaded with plums and drop them right into the garbage can. I think I still picked about 3 bushels. And there are still branches loaded with plums. Call me if you need any to make this cake.

Oh - the cake. It is yummy. I love the cornmeal in the cake. It's much lighter than I anticipated. More like a cake, than a coffee cake. It is melt in your mouth good when it's warm. And it's beautiful too. I just had to get up and take another bite. Tart, sweet, buttery, carmely (know it's not a word). You should put Amy's on your list of places you must eat in NYC.

Plum Upside Down Cake

Topping ingredients:

3/4 cups light brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

Melt together in a small sauce pan. Boil for 2 minutes, don't over cook or mixture will get grainy. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and set aside.

Cake ingredients:

6 to 8 small black or red plums, whole

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

3 tablespoons cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup milk, whole (I used 1/3 skim, 1/3 cream)

Sugar for egg whites, 2 tablespoons

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash all plums, and cut in half. Pit and slice each half into 4 wedges ( I sliced into about 8, because my plums were big). Arrange the fruit, cut side down on top of the topping. Set the pan aside.

In a medium bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together.

Ina small bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter for cake for 1 minute, or until light. Add the sugar and continue beating for about 1 minute. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix 1 minute more. Add half of the flour mixture to the batter and mix briefly. Then add half the milk and mix again. Repeat until all ingredients are incorporated. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy about 1-2 minutes. Increase speed and beat until soft peaks form. Add the 2 tablespoons sugar a little at a time and beat until stiff, but not dry. Fold about 1/4 of the whites into the cake mixture to lighten it. Gently fold in the remainder just until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly over the topping. Place pan in center of oven and bake for 30-33 minutes. Or until blade of knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool on wire rack for about 5-10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen. Invert onto rectangular plate.

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