Polish Fresh Plum Cake--Placek Z Sliwkami

There's a thimble-sized Farmer's Market in our neighborhood and one August visit, I bought a fresh plum cake. I thought nothing of it except "Well, now I have dessert for tonight." Little did I know what an adventure it would turn into! The wrapping from the bakery was tossed and unobtainable after my family went insane for this cake! Beyond moist, a perfect blend of tart and sweet, I spent days trying to locate a similar recipe with no luck; every "plum cake" that I found had either plum baby food or some crumb or streusal topping. I finally located the bakery through the Farmer's Market and found out the name of the cake. It's a Polish delicacy and MUST be made with fresh plums, in season fruit.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 cup sugar (plus)
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 cup butter, very soft (plus)
• 3  tablespoons butter (COLD, cut into pieces)
• 3⁄4 cup milk, room temperature
• 2  large eggs
• 40  fresh plums (any variety, pitted and halved)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon clove

Directions

1. Lightly coat a 13"x9" pan with cooking spray. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and 3/4 cup sugar. Add 1/2 cup softened butter, milk and eggs. Beat at medium speed 4 minutes.
2. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place plums on top, cut side up, pushing down slightly into batter.
3. Cut remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cloves into 3 tablespoons cold butter and sprinkle over plums. Bake about 40 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean.
4. Let the cake cool in the pan so the plum juices will be reabsorbed to create a moist cake. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired, and cut into 12 squares.