Lovely plum dessert

Using one of my favourite cake batters from Laurie Black's cookbook New Home Cooking this is a bit like a sponge pudding but even better. Serve it warm from the oven with icecream. It can also be eaten cold over the next couple of days. Use this recipe to create desserts out of various excess fruits, but it worked particularly well with plums — the tart fruit offsetting the sweet batter.

Ingredients

12	Plums, red (Main)
¼ cup	Sugar
3	Eggs
250 g	Sugar (Main)
1 tsp	Spice, use up to 3 tsp of your favourite sweet spices (we used 1 tsp ground cardamom and 1 tsp vanilla paste)
250 g	Plain flour (Main)
1 tsp	Baking powder
180 g	Butter, melted

Directions

1. Heat oven to 180C. Cut plums in half and remove the stone (a small sharp knife is best for this). Lay in the bottom of a greased deep-sided baking dish (approx. 20cm x 30cm) and sprinkle over ¼ cup sugar (more or less to suit taste) and spices. Bake until fruit is just beginning to collapse and weep colour.
2. Meanwhile beat the eggs and 250g sugar together until pale and foamy. Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold in to the egg mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the melted butter. Don't overmix.
3. Pour this batter over the dish of baked plums and cook in the oven for 40-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
4. Slice warm for dessert or leave to cool in the tin before slicing and storing in an airtight container for a day or two.
5. Dust with icing sugar to serve.