Karens Open Plum Kuchen Recipes

PLUM KUCHEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 7x11-inch baking dish.
• Beat 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons margarine together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Mix eggs, 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt into creamed margarine mixture; stir in vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish. Arrange plums, skin side-down, atop batter.
• Mix 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 3 tablespoons margarine, and cinnamon together in a bowl until crumbly; spoon over batter and plums.
• Bake in the preheated oven until plums are softened, about 35 minutes.

PLUM CUSTARD KUCHEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, mix flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in 2 tablespoons whipping cream and 1 egg. Press in bottom of ungreased 9-inch square pan and arrange plums over the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. While cake is baking, in a bowl, combine 1/2 cup whipping cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 egg. Beat well, and pour mixture over plums and bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until custard is set. Serve warm or cool. Store in refrigerator.

PLUM KUCHEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and baking powder together.
• Cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs; add 2 tablespoons heavy cream and 1 egg.
• Press in bottom of 9-inch square pan or pie pan and arrange plums on top.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes.
• While this is baking, in a bowl combine heavy cream, sugar, egg and vanilla, using a whisk to beat together well.
• Pour mixture over plums and bake an additional 20-30 minutes, until custard is set.
• Serve warm or cool.
• Store in refrigerator.

PLUM KüCHEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Sift flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and salt into small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 6 tablespoons butter with 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then extracts. Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with sour cream in 2 additions. Spread batter in pan.
• Arrange plum wedges on their sides in 4 long rows atop batter. Mix 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl. Sprinkle over plums. Melt 2 tablespoons butter. Drizzle over kuchen.
• Bake kuchen until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Cool until just warm, about 30 minutes, or to room temperature. Cut into 4 lengthwise strips. Cut each strip crosswise into thirds.

KAREN'S OPEN PLUM KUCHEN

Steps:

• Combine unsifted flour, sugar and salt in bowl. using a pastry blender cut in butter into flour mixture.
• beat egg yolk and milk lightly;
• blend into flour mix.
• press to bottom and sides of 8" square pan (or pie dish).
• sprinkle crumbs over dough.
• toss plums with lemon juice; press into dough.
• sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture;.
• dot with butter.
• bake at 375 for about 45 minutes, until crust browns and fruit is tender. cool a little before serving. best served warm.

GERMAN PLUM CAKE (PFLAUMENKUCHEN)

Steps:

• Lightly butter an 8x8 inch (20x20cm) baking dish or tin. Mix together the dry ingredients for the base - flour, sugar, yeast and salt - in a medium bowl.
• Put the butter and milk into a small microwavable dish and warm in 15 second intervals to gently warm the milk and melt the butter. The butter should be just melting and the milk lukewarm. Add this mixture (left to cool first, if too warm), the egg yolk and the vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix all together.
• Knead the dough gently for a minute or two - it should be soft but not wet so add a little more flour if too wet, or milk if it seems to crumble from being dry. Then, press the dough into the buttered baking dish. Press it right to the corners, flat across the bottom then slightly up at the edges.
• Cut the plums in half, along the bit that looks like a seam, then remove the stone. Cut each plum half in half. Arrange the plum quarters over the base as tightly as you can, ideally in rows, cut side up. Leave the dish at warm room temperature to let the dough rise slightly for approximately 1 hour (don't worry if it doesn't obviously change much).
• As the rest time is about done, preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Sprinkle the 1/2tbsp of sugar over the plums, if using.
• Rub together the flour, cinnamon, butter and sugar for the streusel then sprinkle it evenly over the plums.
• Bake the cake for approximately 30 -35 minutes, until the top is gently starting to brown and you can see the plums have softened underneath. Let the cake rest for around 10 minutes before cutting into slices. Works well as it is, both warm or at room temperature, as well as with cream.

PLUM KUCHEN

Steps:

• Adjust an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan and set aside. Do not use cooking spray because the dough must adhere to the pan when you spread it.
• In a medium-size bowl, whisk together thoroughly the flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and 1/3 cup sugar. Cut the 5 tablespoons butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the fat is in smallish pieces and looks like coarse crumbs.
• In a small bowl beat the egg with a table fork well to combine the white with the yolk. Stir in the milk and vanilla, and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir with the fork until the dough is thoroughly moistened. It will be very thick.
• To spread the dough into a thin even layer in the pan, place small spoonfuls of it into the buttered pan, spacing them an inch or two apart (pretend you're making drop cookies), forming about a dozen or so little mounds. Spread them together with the back of a teaspoon to make a very thin even layer covering the bottom of the pan.
• Take your time and have patience with this step. Swirling the back of the spoon back and forth in a figure eight pattern as you spread the batter does the best job.
• Arrange the plums, cut sides down, in tightly packed rows on top of the batter. (I usually get 5 or 6 half-plums across the short side of the pan and 10 to 12 along the long side). Brush the plums with the melted butter. Combine the 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the plums.
• Bake for 35 to 40minutes, until the fruit juices have almost stopped bubbling and a toothpick stuck into the cake portion comes out clean. Cool the kuchen in its pan on a wire rack. Cut around the sides of the kuchen to release from the pan. Serve portions warm or at room temperature.
• NOTE: If you want to freeze the kuchen, butter the baking pan and line it with aluminum foil. Butter the foil and proceed with the recipe. After the kuchen has cooled in its pan, grasp the edges of foil and carefully lift the cake out of the pan. Set the cake on a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer. When solidly frozen, peel off the foil, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap, and enclose the cake securely in heavy-duty foil. Date the kuchen and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months. To reheat, unwrap the frozen cake (remove both the foil and plastic wrap), and set the kuchen on a baking sheet. Tent it loosely with the foil. Place the frozen cake into a preheated 300 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until it is completely thawed and slightly warm. Cut into portions and serve.