Buttermilk (Mirabelle) Plum Quick Bread

Basically, mirabelle plums are tart. And, there's just not much you can do about it. In thinking about my oh so tart .. tart, I decided that maybe these plums need some love by way of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

I put it all in a skillet on the stove and thought they would cook down like apples. I was a little wrong. The plums have such a high water content that they lost all of their shape and became a watery mush. But, it smelled really good. So, I cooked it down a little longer and removed about half of the preserves to use as an ice cream topper later in the week when pro-plum friends are visiting from out of town.

And, it hit me. Thicken the plum preserves a little bit more and make a layered quick bread. We also happened to have some buttermilk that was expiring (ok it had already expired by one day), so per my mom's request, I went hunting for a buttermilk bread recipe, and I found this winner from Sally's Baking Addiction. Sally's bread base is wonderfully moist and manages to be both light and dense at the same time.

These are my homemade plum preserves!

I added a layer of cinnamon sugar before adding the plum preserve layer and a cinnamon crumble top. I might have a problem, but the bread does not. Because the plums retain their tartness, it cuts through the sweet bread and turns what would be just another crumb coffee cake (which we could all use another of, let's be honest) into a bright bread that's great with coffee or tea for breakfast or dessert. Or all the time.

The bread was a really big hit and if we get more plums this week, I'm planning to make it again (a rarity for me). I can't wait to see what adventures our CSA box brings this week! One thing I love about our CSA through Melick's is the wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables we receive. It's not just your average peppers, cabbage and apples - I find that it really challenges us to rethink our regular meals and to try new things.

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
9-10 mirabelle (tart, yellow) plums, quartered
1 Tbsp butter + 1 Tbsp
1/4 c. brown sugar + 1/4 c. + 3 Tbsp
1/2 tsp cinnamon + 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp water
2 c. flour + 2 Tbsp
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 c granulated sugar + 1/4 c.
1 c buttermilk
1/3 c vegetable oil

1 Tbsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Rinse, quarter and pit the plums (leave the skins on). Cook them down in a pan, with some (1 Tbsp) butter, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. 
2. After they've given up (about 15-20 minutes), it will be really liquidy and the plums will have lost all of their shape. Mix cornstarch and cold water in a separate bowl. Add to sauce pan with plums in it and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Set aside and let cool.
3. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and lightly flour a 9x5 loaf pan. 
4. Whisk the dry ingredients (2 C. flour, baking soda and salt) together. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugars (1/4 c. brown sugar and 3/4 c. granulated sugar) and egg together. Mix in the rest of the wet ingredients (buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla). Carefully fold the dry and wet ingredients into each other until they are just combined and most of the lumps are gone. Be careful not to over mix.
5. Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Mix 1/4 c. sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon. Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over top of the dough. Spread the thickened plum preserves on top of the cinnamon sugar evenly. Pour the second half of the batter on top of the plum preserves.
6. Rub1 Tbsp butter, 2 Tbsp flour, 3 Tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon sugar together to make a crumb topping. Sprinkle the cinnamon crumb topping over the top layer of batter.
7. Bake 50 - 60 minutes.