The last plums of autumn are so delicious and I thought it would be nice to make some spiced stewed plums and use this as a filling for patty cakes. These small rounded tea cakes are made with the older fashioned rounded patty cake pans. Inverted and then covered with just a dusting of icing sugar, these light little cakes, filled with cinnamon spiced stewed plums are perfect for afternoon tea.

Spiced Plum Patty cakes

Ingredients:

Spiced Stewed Plums

• 6 medium plums
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon or 2 cinnamon quills
• 3 cloves
• 500ml water

Spiced Plum Patty Cakes

• 225 g Caster sugar
• 2 eggs (50g each) at room temperature
• 225 g  SR Cake Flour, sifted (Lighthouse Cake, Sponge and Steamed Bun SR Flour)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 100 g butter, softened
• 160 ml milk
• the zest of 1 small lemon]
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Spiced Stewed Plums

1. Wash and halve the plums and remove the stones
2. Place water and sugar into a heavy saucepan over a high heat
3. Add cinnamon and cloves and bring to the boil, cooking till sugar has dissolved
4. Add the plums and return to the boil
5. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, till the plums collapse
6. Remove the pieces of skin that has separated from the flesh during cooking
7. Allow to cool for the spices to mellow
8. Before making the patty cakes drain off excess syrup. You can reduce this delicious thick syrup to make a sauce to serve with ice cream
9. 

Spiced Plum Patty Cakes:

• Preheat oven to 160º C F
• Using a pastry brush, coat a 12 cup patty cake pan well with melted butter
• Then sprinkle fine bread crumbs into the pan and then rotate to cover the surface of the pan well, shaking off any excess
• Sift the flour
• Using a food processor ( or stand mixer ) cream butter, sugar, and vanilla, scraping down the sides from time to time.
• When light and fluffy add the zest and pulse to combine
• Add the eggs one at a time processing for 10 seconds at each addition
• Alternate additions of flour and  milk to the batter, processing  well till mixed through, starting and ending with the flour
• Place 1 tablespoon of the batter into each patty pan
• Drop 1/4 teaspoonfuls of the spiced stewed plum flesh (draining off excess syrup) into the centre of the cake batter
• Gently place the filled patty pan tray into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the patty cakes are golden brown and a skewer inserted into the edge of a patty cake comes out clean
• Allow to cool in the tray for 10 minutes and then remove the patty cakes to a cooling rack
• Make more patty cakes until all the batter is used.
• When cool invert the cakes and dust with icing sugar when ready to serve
• Serve warm or cold with your favourite tea or coffee

Makes about 36 patty cakes.