The Making of a plum-cake Monster

For my first post I decided to bake a plum cake because truthfully, I have never made nor tasted a plum cake in my life. I chose the name as a reference to Alice's predicament in the chapter VII of "Through the Looking Glass" because it seemed to fit.

Seeing as my stand mixer was recently snatched from me and the hand held found itself unintentionally imprisoned, I ended up mixing this cake by hand. The batter turns out just fine if it is mixed by hand but if you prefer to give your biceps some rest, I completely understand.


You will need:
3/4 c soy milk
2 tsp lemon juice
4 tbs margarine
2/3 c sugar
1 1/2 c flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I added this, but I think it turns out really well)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c halved plums

Now is the time for confessions, my friends. In the chaos of finding myself with no mixer and the excitement of documenting my first recipe....I entirely forgot to do just that....document. Because of my folly, I have taken the time to provide extra viewing goodies at the end of this little recipe here. Let us go on with the baking!

• Preheat your oven to 375° F
• Grease a 9-inch round cake pan
• Combine soy milk and lemon juice to create vegan "buttermilk," set aside
• Cream the margarine until whipped, I used a fork but a whisk attachment would work well also.
• Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Note the "well," this should be a consistent texture without many clumps.
• Combine the remaining dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg) in separate bowl and set aside.
• Add vanilla to the margarine mixture
• Pour about a third of the "buttermilk" and a third of the flour mixture into the margarine and combine. Continue until all the ingredients are used and the batter is smooth.
• (If you fall into my misfortune and have to use canned plums, drain and rinse them first.)
• Halve and pit your plums. Arrange them on top of the batter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
• Let cool for 20 minutes

This is a very moist, fluffy cake with a crisp layer on top from the cooked sugar.
It will look a little something like this:


My plums sank to the bottom which created a rippled effect on top. I do not know if this is standard or a side effect of the veganizing a classic plum cake. Most plum cakes I have seen have the plums on top but it looked nice anyway. I honestly didn't want the canned plums too noticeable so that worked out.

Now for the aforementioned goodies. I went shopping for aesthetically pleasing dishes for this very blog. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pocket watch design on a plastic tumbler (pocket watches always catch my attention) and discovered a shelf of Alice in Wonderland dishes! I did not expect to find anything I wanted to purchase, let alone something so appropriate. You have seen the Alice dinner plate, here are the rest:



The entire time I was taking photos this little guy was bustling around, making a racket.
I realize that a squirrel trap on a vegetarian blog may sound ironic but I assure you, the little guy was not harmed. We just don't like it when he eats our garden.


And I will give you a look at my beautiful breakfast:
Oatmeal made with cinnamon and nutmeg (I seem to like this combination today, huh?)
Dollop of fat free vanilla yogurt
Organic, vegan chocolate chips
Sliced fresh strawberries

I think there was a sufficient amount of entertainment for a first post. Next up, vegan sloppy joes.