A pluot is a cross between a plum and an apricot…It has a cranberry-blackberry-ish color…with a sweet, slightly tart taste. This recipe is a variation on Nick Malgieri’s Apricot Crumb Cake recipe from the “How to Bake” cookbook. I mixed the ingredients…A chef named Chloe (right) formed and presented the finished product.

Ready

Cake Batter

• 1 stick butter (RT)
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 whole egg (RT)
• 3 egg yolks (RT)
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups A.P. flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5 pluots, sliced (with skin)

Crumb Topping

• 1 ¼ cups A.P. flour
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 stick butter, melted

Set

• 9 inch cake pan, lined with parchment paper and buttered on the sides (or use 4-inch tart pans to make petit coffee cakes)
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups & spoons
• Spatula
• 1 qt sauce pan
• Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

Go

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Cake Batter

1. Cream butter in Kitchen Aid stand mixer until soft and light.
2. Gradually add sugar, beating until light (~5 min).
3. Add the whole egg and mix for 30 seconds.
4. Add the egg yolks one at a time, while continuously beating.
5. Add lemon zest and vanilla. Mix.
6. Add flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Batter should be somewhat thick; not thin or liquid-like.

Topping

1. Mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
2. Melt the butter and stir it in evenly. Rub with hands to form coarse crumbs.

Form and Bake

1. Spoon batter into pan and spread the batter evenly.
2. Layer batter with sliced pluots.
3. Scatter the crumbs evenly over the pluot layer.
4. Bake at 350 F for about 50 minutes. Cool.
5. Serve and enjoy.

What you should know

Recipe adapted from Nick Malgieri’s Apricot Crumb Cake recipe in his “How to Bake” cookbook.