A recipe caught my eye on Thursday, looking through the 'Lifestyle' section of our local newspaper, so I thought I'd give it a try. A simple enough recipe, using fresh fruit in season with a cake batter. Not that the idea is entirely new, since over the years I've baked similar dishes as have most people, I suspect. But one forgets, and sometimes a little nudge of inspiration helps to produce something a little different.

This was a recipe titled "The Original Purple Plum Torte", and so I decided I'd use the recipe with a few spontaneous twists of my own for something I planned to bake on Friday morning for the evening's dessert. I did make some changes; instead of plums I used large ripe peaches since I had peaches and didn't at that time, have any plums.

The recipe is as follows:
3/4 cup sugar                           1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup unbleached flour           1 tsp.baking powder
pinch of salt                              2 eggs
24 halves pitted purple plums  Sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon for topping

My alterations included adding vanilla, sifting a half-tsp. cinnamon into the flour; using dark brown sugar (the recipe didn't specify white sugar), the use of two large-sized eggs (again, the recipe hadn't specified) and snipping about a quarter-cup of candied ginger into the cake batter before scooping it into the prepared baking pan.

The plum halves, skin side up, were to be scattered into the batter that had been scooped into the baking pan, and sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon sprinkled on top. After I placed the peach portions onto the batter, I scattered some halved pecans into the spaces between the fruit and the batter, and then placed the pan into a convection oven preheated to 350. Reducing the heat somewhat after 20 minutes, I sprinkled granulated sugar lightly over the peaches, then left the cake to bake for another 40 minutes.

I generally find that when the fragrance of a baked product tickles your senses, the baking is done.

When in doubt the old toothpick-piercing settles the matter.

So dessert last night was quite pleasant. Served with ice cream or whipped cream it might be even more delectable, but we enjoyed it as is, flavourful and texture-pleasing enough for our tastes.