Plum Sour Cream Kuchen

Ever since I heard the word kuchen, I've wanted to make one. Though apparently kuchen is just the German word for cake - so really, I've already made many kuchens! But I still love how it sounds. I randomly came across this plum sour cream kuchen on a blog somewhere and since I have the cookbook it came from (The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book) and it looked pretty easy, I decided to make it for a simple dessert at a family dinner. Plus it uses one of my favourite fruits! And speaking of plums, I was just reading about how "one relatively inexpensive plum contains about the same amount of antioxidants as a handful of more expensive blueberries." (Source)

This kuchen would be great as an afternoon snack, breakfast, anything really. It was wonderfully dense and moist - I should've taken a picture of a slice of it to show you the gorgeous inside. And I love how the plums look on top. You could easily use whatever fruit you want, or even omit the fruit. This cake would make a great base for all sorts of experimentation. Maybe add some earl grey tea leaves or chocolate chunks or a caramel swirl.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Strawberry Cream Cake
Applesauce Spice Bars
Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake
Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake

Plum Sour Cream Kuchen
Adapted from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book

I used a 9 inch springform pan so only used 3 plums, but if you want to use a 10 inch pan, you could fit 4 plums. If you want you can put a glaze of apricot jam on top but I opted not to.

3 large plums (about 3/4 lb)
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp grated orange rind
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (Ashley note: I used 300 g.)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Grease and flour 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

Pit plums and cut into 1/4-inch (5 mm) thick slices. In bowl, toss together plums, brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter with granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange rind and vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In small bowl, stir sour cream with oil. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of wet ingredients. Scrape into prepared pan; smooth top. Arrange plums in concentric circles on top, leaving about 1/2 inch (1 cm) between circles.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. (Ashley note: Check at 1 hour.) Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove side of pan. (Make-ahead: Let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap (or put in a plastic container) and store at room temperature for up to 24 hours or freeze in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.)