Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Good intentions



This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Dimply Plum Cake, chosen by Michelle of Bake-en. Unfortunately, although I had every intention of making this with plums, my usual grocery shopping venues didn't cooperate.  Had this been a month ago, it would have been no problem, but the few plums I saw didn't look all that great.  No good peaches, either, and I don't like cherries.  Since we're finally heading into fall, I decided to go with apples, one of my favorites anyway.  It sounded like a good idea....


My mistake was in not going with my gut.  My favorite apple variety is Macintosh.  While I was in PA last week, I actually thought ahead and called my grandmother before she headed down from upstate New York.  She was able to stop at her local orchard and bring me a couple pounds of apples.  Three remain in my fridge, waiting to be eaten.  =)  Sure, I can get New York Macs here, but they're a lot farther from home and taste like it.  Not bad, but just not the same.  Anyway, I usually use Macs for baking, even in recipes that say not to (they tend to get very soft with cooking).  But I was thinking in terms of apples that I could fit on top of the cake without as much slicing, and went with some small Granny Smiths (Central Market calls them "lunchbox apples" because they're the perfect size for kids' lunches).  

Big mistake.  Even cut into quarters (pretty small ones at that), the firm apples simply didn't have enough time to cook through.  And oddly enough, even though the cake was overbaked and dry around the edges, it was gooey around the apples.  Which is a shame, because I thought the cake itself was very tasty--when I was making the batter, I thought it reminded me of my favorite blondie recipe.  My taste testers agreed--good cake, but bad apples.  =)


That was Gillian who completely ate around them.  =)  I definitely want to try this recipe again, to see if I can find a way to make the apples work.  I also thought about omitting the fruit all together and just topping the cake with nuts or streusel.  I'll let you know what I come up with.  In the meantime, head over the TWD blogroll to see how others fared this week, or try it yourself.  You can find the recipe on Michelle's blog.  

27 comments:

  1. Glad you liked the cake, but sorry the apples didn't work out for you. Let us know if you get that to work!

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  2. I will be anxious to see what you come up with!

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  3. you know, it would be GREAT with no fruit and just some streusel! The cake part (well, the part that wasn't raw) was really very delicate and nice. i hadn't thought about this option, i may give it a whirl too. too bad about the apples.

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  4. I bet if you precooked the apples in a pan, you'd be able to get them cooked through. Maybe next time?

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  5. Sorry the apples did not work out. I'm with you -- I can see the potential of the apples. You know, I think this cake would be fabulous with no fruit. I did not find the plums to add much to my cake. Of course, I used rotten plums, so I am probably not the person to talk to about this. I'd try again with the apple concept -- I bet that you are thisclose to making it work!

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  6. What a bummer about the apples! But I do like your suggestion about nuts and streusel. Sounds good to me!

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  7. I'm an old Macintosh baker from way back, myself! Your cake looks beautiful. I agree with the precooking concept. Maybe slice them into wedges and saute with a bit of butter and cinnamon. I may try that when Fall finally reaches my part of the country.
    Nancy

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  8. I did apples too and I was worried they wouldn't have enough time to cook. I sliced them very thin and they were just fine. Maybe try again with a very thin slice.

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  9. Bummer about the underbaked apples. I admit I giggled when I saw the leftover apple bits on the plate. Kids are great with their honesty huh?
    Clara @ iheartfood4thought

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  10. I completely missed the fact that it was in the breakfast section! All my guilt for naught. The idea of apples is definitely intriguing. Every experiment is a chance to learn something new, right?

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  11. Eating around the apples - that sounds like what one of mine would do! Sorry this didn't turn out for you.

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  12. Apples in this cake? I think every good apple would be dry after such a long baking time without any glaze.

    Although you are not satisfied, the cake looks good to me

    Ulrike from Küchenlatein

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  13. The cake looks good and I like how Gillian ate around the apples!

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  14. Sorry they didn't work out! The apples sound like a great idea! Do you think that possibly cooking the apples for a few minutes (as if you were making an apple pie), would help?

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  15. Aww...so sorry your apples didn't work out. What if you poached them in a bit of syrup for a few minutes first? Or used pie apples? Apples do sound yummy. I may give this a try after cooking the apples for a bit first.

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  16. I used apples too.

    I thought they were great in the cake. I used Gala apples.

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  17. Apples were a great idea, maybe in a couple of weeks they will be more co-operative. We are in Southern Ontario, so pretty close to upstate NY, apples are just coming out here.
    Oh - and the pumpkin ice cream?!? Beautiful. I want some.

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  18. I thought of apples, too. I think I will try that sometime. I still think your cake looks good.

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  19. aw, sorry it didn't work out this time... hope you get to try it again with macs!!

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  20. So sorry your cake didn't turn out the way you wanted it to. I agree with the others, next time either saute of "par bake" the apples then put them on top of the cake batter. Apples do sound like a lovely fruit to go with this cake.

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  21. maybe slicing the apples would work? I thought it would be great with the apples. . and some cinnamon. . yum. But I did love the plums on mine.

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  22. I love the leftover uncooked apples! Too cute!

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  23. Great idea with the apples! Too bad it didn't work out for you...

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  24. Too bad about the apples! At least the cake was yummy!

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  25. I agree with the pre-cook suggestions that others have already made. And Gillian - she reminds me of Julia. Julia ate around the plums. :)

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  26. My cake turned out kind of dry, and I'm not quite sure why!

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  27. i guess it would have been good to use a soft apple in this recipe... at least you found the cake part good

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