Summer Plum Cake

I adapted this from JSCooks who posted the recipe on a great site, Food 52.

Lovely writer, lovely site, lovely cake. Trust.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
6 medium to large, firm-ripe plums, halved lengthwise and pitted
Lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream or crème fraîche, for serving (optional)


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Dust the pan with flour, tapping out the excess.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside. Grate the zest off of one lemon, and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer), beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light, about 5 minutes. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla, and reserved lemon zest until well combined. On low speed, add the flour mixture just until combined. (The batter will be thick.)

Spread half of the batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and top with half of the plum halves, cut side down. Dollop and spread the remaining batter over the plums. Arrange the remaining plum halves, cut side up, over the top. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar over the plums.

Bake until the cake is golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted near the center tests clean (assuming you haven’t hit a plum), 50 to 55 minutes, rotating the pan front to back a little past halfway through baking. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream, if desired.