At the BBG last weekend for Rachael's wedding I encountered this plum tree.
A tree so laden with fruit, it was almost unforgivable. No one can pick this fruit! Like a fruit tree behind thick plexiglass with a koala bear up it or something, except even the koala bear would have to adhear to the no-picking-the-fruit policy, and so it would be starved.
Did I ever tell you the time I tried to coax a gardener into letting me have a fallen magnolia branch bound for the wood chipper? There were most beautiful buds on this branch...torn off the tree by a thunderstorm...destined for mulch. Torture!
I digress..I've been oogling these photo's ever since, and thought if I had the time I'd make plum oatmeal bread. This is best with dark skinned Italian prune plums. [I'm not sure why I said that or if it's even true. You really can use whatever plums you have.]
Plum Oatmeal Bread adapted from the files of Susan Ryhanen*
preheat oven to 350 degrees
sift (as if!) 2 cups of flower;
3/4 cups of sugar
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom
Add:
1 cup of whole oats
1 cup of diced fresh plums plus a little more
Combine the following wet ingredients together, then stir into the dry/plum mix...
2 well beaten eggs
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of canola oil
Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour.
Cool 10 minutes at least before inverting.
* "adapting" aka 1/4 teaspoon difference of cinnamon. aka adding cardamom or allspice to a banana bread recipe. aka changing 1 cup of half and half to 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup milk. I'm onto all your adapting food bloggers out there...I got you.
14 comments:
that's criminal. so much food going to waste.
My in laws neighbors have a giant apricot tree that they never pick. My father in law got so frustrated seeing all that gorgeous fruit rot that one night he put on a head lamp, took a ladder over and filled a bunch of buckets.
Seriously, that is the most beautiful thing ever. Just look at that color, for gosh sake! I say, someone should be donning the black ski mask and gloves and going stealth in the middle of the night.
pretty pretty
Koalas eat eucalyptus....but maybe a plum bread this good would tempt.
aka: Susan Ryhanen
sift the flour -- as if ! you are hilarious ... i haven't ever sifted flour either. i also get perturbed when a recipe calls for a 'beaten egg'. like, for real ?
i will be making this recipe today. thanks !
That's heartbreaking. They should have a rule that you can't pick it yourself, since it'd be stripped in no time if you could pick it yourself... but instead have the staff pluck the fruit when it's ripe and sell it, or something. It'd be win-win. The tree gets plucked, the gardens make a bit of money, and people get delicious fruit. =P
I went ahead and made your recipe. It's still warm as I write and delicious! although I substituted half whole wheat flour, and would use even more plums next time. Mine were from a mountainside, and bursting-ripe, so the recipe was perfect timing - thank you.
Seeing that tree in person would give me the shakes.
those plums look so delicious and the colors are just dreamy. Now I must hurry off to the farmer market to get some plums for a vegan upside down plum cake;
http://www.vegbitch.com/2007/08/14/upside-down-plum-cake/
these photos are incredibly beautiful...i almost cant stand it!
The pics of that plum tree are gorgeous; what a shame they don't make good use of all that wonderful bounty! Your recipe looks yummy .. think I could substitute something else (like maybe figs) for the plums?
If you're ever in the market for magnolia cones, just let me know .. we have them by the dozens down here!
Um, koalas aren't bears, aren't related to bears, and, indeed, we don't have bears of any sort in Australia.
Nit-picking I know, but it's one of those things (like apostrophes) that I have bees in my bonnet about...
PS - If it helps, the koala (no bear at all) is most closely related to the wombat, which is also not remotely a bear.
The plum tree is gorgeous. Coincidentally, we just purchased plums identical to these -- perfectly ripe -- and made your bread! A huge hit in the family! Thanks for sharing it!
I believe everyone ought to browse on it.
Post a Comment