In Which She Breaks Her Own Rule, and is Suitably Punished

Bleh. A waste of what is no doubt a perfectly good recipe, a beautiful tray of pink freckled pluots, and a fair amount of butter and eggs. I knew better, but did it anyway, I've only myself to blame here. I was going to make preserves with the pluots, but I was lazy and greedy. I let them get perfectly ripe, and then I ate a couple of them, and they were so juicy and delicious that I ate some more. Before long, there were not enough for preserves, and anyway they were too far along- most fruit should be barely ripe for putting up.

I should have just shared them and finished them; they were perfect for eating out of hand, fragrant and dribbly. But I bought them with the idea of some project in mind, and I couldn't let it go. Then I made the second mistake. I could have just made a big old pie, thickening the very liquid juices with a little tapioca. But noooo. I had to make something else.

Knowing full well that the recipe was intended for much drier damson or Italian prune plums, I made the plum brioche you see above, from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home To Yours. What was I thinking? Who knows? Sigh. Soggy and more or less useless. Kind of a not-so-great upside down cobbler. It's a pretty color, anyway.

I love to read the comments to recipes at epicurious.com. Some creative soul will say, "(3 stars) This was pretty good. I substituted ground pork for the beef filet, used pinto beans instead of the artichokes, and I improvised with a half box of Brownie Mix, which added a needed richness. But I think it's a little too sweet." I do generally try to make a recipe as intended first, before messing with it. Otherwise, how will I know what I'm varying? I have never made a Dorie Greenspan recipe properly that didn't turn out well. My bad, as they say.

Comments

[Lynn D.]

I still don't see why this wouldn't be delicious, but then, that is probably why I have so many kitchen failures. I have a big bucket of plums that are probably too ripe for jam as well. The tree is still loaded with plums, but I noticed this morning that yellow finches are feasting on them! They can have them, the tree provided about ten times the amount it usually does. Pears and tomatoes also need attention. Off to the kitchen

[lindy]

I didn't either, Lynn, which is why I tried it. The fruit went juicy in a watery way, rather than a syrupy way, and made the brioche sodden and yucky. I ate the cooked pluots off the top, with some Greek yogurt. They were good- but no better than the uncooked, fresh ones .Less good, actually.

Someday I'm going to have a plum tree again, too, I hope.

[Luisa]

Oh, rats! It sounds like such a lovely thing, too. And just like the Pflaumenkuchen I dream about from Germany... I hope you try again soon ;)

[Tanna]

Well, how odd. Some things just don't happen, don't work. Looks pretty!

[Nina]

I once made a plum brioche tart similar to this and was also unimpressed. I should confess, though, to an Epicurious-like change. I used recipes for the brioche and the plums from different sources, and must have miscalculated how much brioche I would need... so mine was more of a cake!

Maybe it's a matter of taste. I just didn't like the brioche and plum combination -- it was a bit boring. I also picked the plums off the top and ate them with yogurt... or ice cream. I then cut off the moist top of the brioche and froze the rest. I've since used that brioche as a base for a peeled cherry tomato tart, and will probably make a small bread pudding in the future. At least it wasn't a total bust.

But I have been baking out of the Dorie Greenspan book, and have had a lot of success. Hope that future experiments out of it will turn out more deliciously for you!

[claudia]

hiya - please please try the rustic plum cake from cooks illusatrated aug. '08 edition. i just blogged about it and girl.... it was WONDERFUL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i am picky picky...
this cake was totally awesome so go have a look see and try again... i guarantee you'll love it. i included their recipe.

[elizabeth]

I wonder how the plouts (my daughter and I have renamed them "plumocots" - so much easier) will work for the Dimply Plum Cake. I have a whole bag downstairs with this in mind. Any thoughts? Plums actually seem less fleshy and more juicy than the plumocots we have.

[Julie]

So it didn't work with pluots but I'm thinking that with Italian plums it would be good. Off to consult my copy of Baking From My Home To Yours.

Your bit about the recipe rating on Epicurious is so funny and so true. And those people who substitute everything and then tell you it's a terrible recipe drive me CRAZY but they are amusing.