Plum Cupcakes: Almost Like Plum Tarts

Plum cupcakes were a definite bake this summer. The farmers' market plums were too tempting to resist! Before the plum cupcakes were baked, they didn't match the color of the wrappers at all. However, I was excited to see that after baking the plum cupcakes, the plum and wrapper completely matched!

How Were the Plum Cupcakes?


I made these plum cupcakes using Dorie Greenspan's Dimply Plum Cake recipe. Although I was familiar with Dorie from all of Dorie's blogger fans out there, this was actually the first Dorie recipe I've tried. I found it on The Wednesday Chef. You should definitely check out the picture of her plum cake. It's gorgeous!

The plum cupcakes were delicious. However, they turned out much drier and heavier than I would have imagined. They almost tasted like a plum tart - which is not a bad thing! Because they were so dry, they went perfectly with the super-moist plum jello that I ended up frosting them with. You could, of course, also frost them with any of your favorite frostings or not frost them at all and just top them with a little bit of powdered sugar.

The Plum Cupcake Recipe

Like I said above, the plum cupcake recipe is Dorie Greenspan's Dimply Plum Cake converted to cupcake form. Here is the recipe, with my notes:

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t ground cardamom
• 5 T unsalted butter
• 3/4 C packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 C canola oil
• Grated zest of one lemon (I used 1/2 t lemon extract instead)
• 1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
• 8 purple or red plums, halved and pitted

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and ground cardamom.
2. Cream the butter with the brown sugar.
   
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
   
4. Beat in the oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture.
5. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full or higher (they don't rise very much) and place some cut slices of plum on each one. Another fun option would be to fill the liners halfway, add some plum slices, then fill the rest and add some more plum.
   
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until they bounce back when touched lightly.
7. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before frosting.