There is something magical about summer when the markets begin to deliver their crops of ripe stone fruit: Peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and cherries. Stone fruits reach their peak under long, sun-filled days of summer. It's a season that involves farmers' markets and filling baskets with colorful and beautifully scented fruit.

This is a delicious, easy-to-make cake made with fresh stone fruit submerged is a moist, buttery cake. It's a great way to use up excess stone fruit in a delectable way. You can swap out the plums for just about any stone fruit like apricots, peaches, nectarines, or cherries. I've made this recipe a few times one time using plums, another time pluots, and another time with apricots (maybe my favorite). I gave a half cake to a neighbor who said a slice of this cake with coffee was the perfect breakfast on a July morning. You can also serve it for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Plan ahead as you need the eggs, milk, and butter to be at room temperature. 

Plum Cake

Ingredients:

• Flour - 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (180g)
• Baking powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
• Cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Butter - 1/2 cup, softened (1 stick)
• Sugar - 3/4 cup, plus more for sprinkling
• Eggs - 2 large, room temperature
• Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons
• Almond extract - 1/4 teaspoon (optional)
• Milk - 1/2 cup, room temperature
• Plums - 3-4 plums, about a pound, pitted and halved or quartered

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Light spray a 9-inch springform baking pan or line a springform pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. 
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure it's well-incorporated before adding the second egg. Add vanilla extract (and optional almond extract). Scrape down the bowl as needed.
5. With the hand mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture in parts. Alternate between adding some flour and some milk. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. 
6. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
7. Arrange the plum slices skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle generously with sugar, if desired.
   
   
   
   
    
8. 
   Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 
9. Let cake cool down in the pan for at least 10 minutes. 
10. Run a knife around the edge before releasing the spring, and remove the outer ring. Let cake cool completely before transferring it to a serving plate. 

A version I made with apricots. 

Spinach & Arugula Salad with Nectarines and Chicken

It's stone fruit season here in California. Over the last few weeks we have been getting nectarines at our farmer's market and enjoying them whole and cut up in yogurt for lunch. We came home to some nectarines that were approaching over ripeness. So I got online to see what I could find about ways to incorporate nectarines into our dinner.

I found this salad as a starting point but I had to adapt it to what we had in the fridge. This recipe is pretty flexible and forgiving. You can substitute or try new ingredients which is exactly what I did.

Here's how it unfolded:

We had both arugula and spinach so I combined them for the salad. But if you could do this recipe with either or try some lettuce.

The online recipe called for blue cheese. We didn't have any but I substituted some shredded salty Manchego because that's what we had. I can imagine using crumbles of blue or Gorgonzola cheese or even goat cheese. But, you need a strong, salty cheese to counter the sweetness of the nectarine.

The original recipe also called for toasted pine nuts. In the interest of time, I skipped this step but I can imagine how a salty, crunchy nut would add some texture (and protein) to the salad. One could use chopped peanuts, cashews, or walnuts.

The original recipe did not include any chicken. But I went ahead and lightly browned some Tofurky Chick'n that I had described in an earlier post to top the salad in order to add that toothy component that meat provides. The Tofurky product is a really good chicken substitute. But if you eat meat, I can imagine pulling some shredded chunks from a supermarket rotisserie chicken on top. The warm meat (or "meat") is a nice contrast to refrigerator cold produce in the rest of the recipe.

The raspberry vinegar is also something you might not have in your pantry. I happened to have some because of a gift from a friend who lives in Sonoma County near the now-closed Kozlowski Farms. But, if need be, you can use your red wine vinegar.

Be creative!

Serves 2. 

Ingredients:

• Raspberry vinegar, 2 tablespoons
• Sugar, 1 teaspoon
• Olive oil, 3 tablespoons
• Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon
• Black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt, 1 large pinch
• Arugula or spinach, 4 cups (about 2-3 small handfuls of each)
• Nectarines, 2, each sliced into 8 sections
• Blue cheese, 4 oz.
• Rotisserie chicken, 1-2 cups shredded meat (if using Chick'n: about 4 oz. lightly browned in a small skillet).

Directions:

• In a small bowl combine the first six ingredients. Whisk together until well blended
• Place the arugula/spinach in a large bowl
• Prep the cheese and lightly brown the chicken in a skillet
• Pour the dressing over the greens and toss to coat (the greens will wilt once the dressing is on them).
• Add the cheese and toss to coat
• Plate the salad and top with nectarine slices and chicken

Nectarine Carpaccio with Basil

We were paging through a recent Vegetarian Times when this recipe caught our eye. We had received some nectarines in our box and we got a few more at our local farmer's market just because it's that time of year.

I was also able to use some just-picked basil leaves from my backyard in this one.

We were having some friends over and we thought this would make a great appetizer.

It comes from Chef Eric Lechausseur, executive chef of Seed Kitchen in Venice, CA. In the write up, he describes how he likes the mixture of fruit and herb because "the nectarine's acidity combines with the freshness of basil for a wonderful flavor."

The ingredients are pretty simple:

• nectarines
• basil leaves
• lemon
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Here's how it works:

You want to start with nectarines that are neither too ripe or not ripe enough. Place the washed nectarine on a cutting board with the "crease" facing you. That way the pit is lined up to give you the maximum number of slices.

Slice off a bit of the peel from the right side to get the slicing started.

Start cutting thin slices.

When you run into the pit, turn the nectarine around and repeat the above on the other side.

You will have a small leftover section on either side. That's your reward for being the cook.

Arrange overlapping nectarine slices on a platter. In a bowl, combine the juice of half of a juicy lemon, just under 1/3 cup high quality olive oil, a generous dash of salt, and a good amount of cracked black pepper.
Get enough basil leaves for the number of nectarine slices you have. You will actually want small to medium sized leaves. Drizzle the dressing over the nectarine/basil slices

Serve out in the backyard enjoying the long days of June and the beginning of summer. We served it with a Viognier which worked well with this dish. We decided this was a keeper.