These moist little cakes are so delicious, and the essence of summer. Just add a shady back porch and a cold ice tea.
12 cakes
½ cup granulated sugar
Zest of one orange
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup brown sugar, divided
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup buttermilk (if you do not have buttermilk, use 1 tablespoon plain yogurt and the remainder in regular milk)
6 plums, cut in half
(Powdered sugar for serving)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a non-stick muffin pan with butter.
In a bowl add 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, granulated sugar, orange zest and butter.
Beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between.
Add the flour and incorporate, then the buttermilk and beat until smooth.
Divide the batter among 12 muffin cups.
With the cut side up, push a plum half gently into the batter just until the batter comes up the sides of the plum.
Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top of the plums.
Place the muffin pan on a foil lined baking sheet. This will catch any overflow juices.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and the plums are soft.
Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
When they are cool, dust with powdered sugar for serving.