Summer is coming to end. As sad as that makes me, I'm also looking forward to the delicious food that comes in the Fall--apples, winter squash, pumpkins. As one last hurrah, we made a yummy sorbet with sour plums and cherries. However, the sorbet turned out very tart, and we decided it needed to be paired with something sweet. So we made a cornmeal cake to go with it. The results, sweet, sour, crunchy, smooth, Summery, but with a hint of Fall.
Plum and Cherry Sorbet
Adapted from Serious Eats
Ingredients3 cups of plums, pitted, and quartered (I think the kind we had was mirabelle plums, they were small and yellow)
1 cup of cherries, pitted and halved
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon Xanthan gum (don't worry if you don't have this, I think it will still work fine, it just improves the texture)
Instructions
- Purée plums and cherries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
- Add sugar, Xanthan gum, and corn syrup and blend for 30 seconds.
- Add salt, blend to incorporate, and adjust to taste.
- Strain purée and transfer to refrigerator; chill for 2 to 3 hours until very cold.
- Churn sorbet in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Transfer sorbet to freezer to firm up for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
Cornmeal cake
Adapted from Epicurious
Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
1 cup sugar (plus a little extra to sprinkle on top)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 9-inch cake pan or spring-form pan with 2-inch-high sides. Dust pan with cornmeal, tapping out excess.
- Sift flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt into medium bowl.
- Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in orange peel. Gradually add 1 cup sugar and beat until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.
- Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
- Fold in dry ingredients in 3 additions until just incorporated. Transfer batter to pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with extra sugar.
- Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Run knife around pan sides to loosen.
- Turn cake out onto plate, then invert, crushed sugar side up, onto rack.
- Cool completely. Cut cake into wedges. Serve with plum cherry sorbet.
Comments