Zwetschgendatschi

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rimmed baking sheet, about 30x40cm
• •Rolling pin
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Sharp paring knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Warm the milk until it feels just warm to a finger, about 35C, because hot milk kills yeast and cold milk makes it lazy. Stir in the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar, then leave it for 10 minutes until it looks foamy. If nothing happens, start again now, before you waste the flour.

2. 2

   Make the dough

   Mix the flour, remaining sugar, salt, lemon zest, egg, softened butter, and foamy yeast milk into a soft dough, then knead 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The kneading builds enough strength to hold the fruit without making the base tough. Cover and let it rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. 3

   Prepare the plums

   Halve and stone the Zwetschgen, then cut each half almost through again so it opens like a small fan. Do not use round dessert plums. Zwetschgen are firmer and less watery, so they collapse into their own juice instead of drowning the dough.

   If the plums are very ripe and wet, keep the almond or breadcrumb layer. It is not decoration; it is the sponge that saves the base.
4. 4

   Roll it thin

   Line a 30x40cm rimmed baking sheet with baking paper. Knock back the dough, roll it to fit the sheet, and press it into the corners with a low rim around the edge. Keep it thin, about 5mm before the second rise, because this is a fruit cake with dough underneath, not a loaf wearing plums.

5. 5

   Pack the fruit

   Scatter the ground almonds or breadcrumbs evenly over the dough, then stand the plum pieces in tight, overlapping rows, cut sides up and skins showing. Pack them closer than looks reasonable. They shrink in the oven, and a loose hand gives you bare bread between the fruit.

6. 6

   Rest and bake

   Let the assembled cake rest 20 minutes while the oven heats to 200C. This short rest wakes the dough after rolling without letting the plums sit long enough to bleed. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the edge is golden, the base is cooked through, and the plums are wrinkled, dark, and glossy in their own juice.

7. 7

   Sugar at end

   Mix the cinnamon with the coarse sugar and scatter it over the cake while it is still warm. Sugar at the end clings to the fruit; sugar at the start pulls water out too early and makes the bottom wet. Cool at least 20 minutes before cutting, so the plum juices settle into the cake instead of running across the board.

Chef Tips

• •Buy Zwetschgen, the small oval prune plums. They should feel firm, not hard, with a blue bloom on the skin. Soft round plums belong in a bowl, not on this sheet.
• •Roll the base thin. A thick yeast base steals the dish from the fruit, and nobody waited for late summer to eat sweet bread.
• •No packet glaze. The plums give you the shine themselves when they are packed tight and baked until their edges wrinkle. Nicht aus dem Glas.
• •Use ground almonds for a slightly richer base, breadcrumbs for the older thrift answer. Both do the same job: they catch the juice. Weggeworfen wird nichts if you use yesterday's dry roll for the crumbs.
• •Serve with unsweetened whipped cream or without. The cake is already sugared, and sweet cream makes it flat.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator after kneading. Bring it to room temperature for 45 minutes before rolling, because cold dough fights the pan and springs back.
• •The plums can be halved and stoned a few hours ahead, but do not sugar them. Sugar draws out juice, and that juice belongs in the oven, not in the bowl.
• •Best eaten the day it is baked. For the next day, keep it loosely covered at room temperature and re-crisp pieces for a few minutes in a moderate oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 165g)