The plum season has started and those little purple fruits are now available everywhere. The supermarkets are overflowing with plums. This means it’s normally time to make a nice Damson Plum Cake Tray Bake again. Well… this year I decided to do something different. Smaller, but no less delicious: 6 Spices Damson Plum Pastries with a simple and easy curd-oil-batter. This plum season couldn’t start better… ;)
Damson plums and regular plums are in season here in Germany from July to September. Some “late bloomers” produce fruits even as late as the beginning of October. This means you basically can bake something nice with plums all summer long until the beginning of fall. Delicious and easy tray bakes or more delicate cakes – you can do a lot with these sweet and sour fruits.
Plums are stone fruits that do not ripen any further after being harvested. When shopping for those fruits, you should make sure to take only the good looking and well-ripened ones. They should not be too hard, but also not mushy when you touch them. It is also important that the fruits still have that grey-ish layer you probably all seen already (and wondered what it is). This is a thin layer of wax that protects the fruits and should stay on until you want to eat them or use them in a bake – only then you should wash plums and remove that dusty layer ;)
Well… back to the pastry! Plum pastries like these here are pretty common in Germany, though most of the time they are made with a yeast dough instead of the curd-oil-dough I used. Even though I really like a good yeast dough, I don’t think it’s the best option for these little pastries. A yeast dough needs time – a lot of time – and in summer I don’t have that time. I want to do other things instead of waiting all day for the dough to rise. This dough here is done in 5 minutes ;) Also yeast dough pastries tend to dry out much quicker than the curd-oil-dough based pastries. Cakes or small pastries stay fresh for much longer and are even on the second and third day still nice to eat. So this kind of dough is definitely a winner for me here ;)
The plums in this recipe here should marinate for some time before you start baking – that ensures that all of those spices get a chance to mix and mingle with the damson plums. Only then you will be able to enjoy those plum pastries as they are supposed to be enjoyed ;) Really try to get all of the six spices listed in the recipe… I know that fennel seeds are sometimes a bit hard to come by and you might be tempted to leave that one out, but only the combination of all of them creates the perfect pastry with great flavors!
If you can’t find damson plums, you can use regular plums, of course. You can also use mirabelle plums (those small red and yellow plums) – both work fine here and will give you a very nice result.
In case you got a big basket of plums and don’t know what to doe… try one of my other plum recipes. The semolina cheesecake with damson plum topping is “to die for”! ;)
Kaiserschmarrn aka. Shredded Pancake aka. The Emperor’s Mess
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the plum topping:
21-25 oz. (600-700g) damson plums
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. fennel seeds
3-4 Szechuan peppercorns
pinch of allspice
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground star anise
4 tbsp. cane sugar
For the streusel:
4.2 oz. (120g) spelt flour (Type 630)
1.8 oz. (50g) sugar
2.5 oz. (70g) butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
For the dough:
7 oz. (200g) low-fat curd (Magerquark)
1/3 cup (80ml) rapeseed oil
1 medium egg
1.8 oz. (50g) sugar
10.6 oz. (300g) spelt flour (Type 630)
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
some milk for brushing
apricot jam for brushing (optional)
Für den Zwetschgenbelag:
600-700g Zwetschgen
1/2 TL gemahlener Zimt
1/4 TL Fenchelsamen
3-4 Szechuan Pfefferkörner
1 Prise Piment (Nelkenpfeffer)
1 Prise gemahlene Nelken
1 Prise gemahlenen Sternanis
4 EL Rohrzucker
Für die Streusel:
120g Dinkelmehl (Type 630)
50g Zucker
70g weiche Butter
1/2 TL Vanille Extrakt
Für den Teig:
200g Magerquark
80ml Rapsöl
1 Ei (M)
50g Zucker
300g Dinkelmehl (Type 630)
3 1/2 TL Backpulver
1 Prise Salz
etwas Milch zum Bestreichen
Aprikosenmarmelade zum Bestreichen (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
2. For the streusel add the flour, sugar, butter, and vanilla extract to a bowl and rub between your fingers to get different sized streusel. Place in the fridge until needed.
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Line two baking sheets with baking parchment and set aside.
4. Add the curd (Quark), oil, egg, and sugar for the dough to a large bowl and mix to combine. Mix the flour with baking powder, and salt and add to the bowl – knead until you get a nice and smooth dough. Divide into 8 pieces, form each piece into a ball, pull apart to create oval rounds with a length of about 5.9 inches (15cm). The edges should be slightly thicker than the centers of the dough pieces. Place them on the baking sheets with some space in between. Place the marinated plums on top, sprinkle with the streusel – try keeping the edges clear of plums and streusel. Brush the edges with some milk and bake for 18-20 minutes until nicely puffed up and golden brown. Take the pastries out of the oven and place on a wire rack. Brush the edges of the still warm plum pastries with some apricot jam (optional) and let cool down.
2. Mehl, Zucker, weiche Butter und Vanille Extrakt für die Streusel in eine Schüssel geben und mit den Fingern zu Streuseln verarbeiten. Bis zur weiteren Verwendung in den Kühlschrank stellen.
3. Den Ofen auf 190°C (375°F) vorheizen. Zwei Backbleche mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen.
4. Für den Teig den Quark mit dem Öl, Ei und Zucker in einer großen Schüssel gut verrühren. Mehl mit Backpulver und Salz vermischen und zur Schüssel dazugeben – alles zu einem glatten Teig verkneten. Den Teig in 8 Portionen aufteilen, daraus Kugeln formen und jeweils zu ovalen “Fladen” mit einer Länge von etwa 15cm (5.9 inches) auseinanderziehen. Die Ränder dürfen dabei etwas dicker sein als die Mitte der Fladen. Mit etwas Abstand auf die Bleche setzen und dann die marinierten Zwetschgen und die Streusel darauf verteilen, dabei die Ränder etwas freilassen. Die Ränder mit etwas Milch bestreichen und dann für etwa 16-20 Minuten backen, bis die Teilchen und Streusel goldbraun sind. Aus dem Ofen holen und auf einem Kuchengitter abkühlen lassen. Wer mag, kann die noch warmen Plunderteilchen am Rand mit etwas Aprikosenmarmelade bestreichen (optional).
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6 Spices Damson Plums Pastry
- Prep Time: 00.25
- Cook Time: 00:20
- Total Time: 00:45
- Yield: 8
- Category: Pastries
- Cuisine: German
Description
Delicious sweet treat in late summer: Damson Plum Pastries flavored with six spices like cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds…
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Enjoy baking!
I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
