Plum Buckle ... Buckle what?

This is a gem my mom found years ago, the perfect reason to keep a plum tree in your garden.

Fruit desserts are more than just pies. While pie crust is a lot of work, upside-down cakes, cobblers, crumbles, crisps and buckles are easier and just as delicious in my book. From what I've read, it seems like the differences between these names for baked fruit desserts are nearly as much regional as they are descriptive.

What's a buckle? Based on this dessert, I like to think a buckle is an upside down cobbler, where the cake "buckles" under the weight of the fruit. 

Serve it warm with ice cream, or just eat it for breakfast, this is fruit and cake.

Plum Buckle

Prep 20; Bake 45 min at 375

Cake
2 cups sliced plums
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2  tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2  tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup flour

Cream butter and Sugar; add egg. Sift dry ingredients and alternate adding with milk. Mix well. Spread in greased 9" square pan. Sprinkle plums over batter.

Combine topping ingredients until consistency of coarse meal. Sprinkle over cake. Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes. Server warm with ice cream.

Happy Birthday to Me! Black Forest Cake

From our sister, Amanda the Cake Explorer, comes this beautiful idea. Elizabeth made this for my birthday; I still let her cook about once a week. Note the out of season cherries. They come in a can- found in the fruit and veggie section- not pie filling. The juice soaks the cake and the cream. I'm a sucker for cherries, and it's obvious I just couldn't restrain myself.

It's Cake Time! Omnomnomnom...

Grasshooper Caramel Sundae

For the purpose of this post, I just made up a name for this dessert that I make a lot, but doesn't actually have a real name. (What do you think? Better suggestions?) One of my favorite desserts. Except I like it best with Slow Churned mint cookie crunch ice cream (think: mint oreo), rather than mint chocolate chip, but I'm pretty sure my grocery store stopped carrying it. (Boo!) This is chocolate graham crackers on the bottom, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and caramel sauce. Can you believe most people haven't yet discovered how wonderful chocolate graham crackers are?

From July 20, 2012