An Okanagan family favourite

It's easy peasy, seasonably adjustable and delish!

Jennifer Schell, a food and wine writer living in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, recently wrote and published a cookbook called The Butcher, The Baker, The Wine & Cheese Maker, an Okanagan Cookbook. Along with chef-developed recipes, the book includes recipes from Okanagan kitchens.

“Oma’s Prune Kuchen is an absolute favourite in our family," Schell said, "and for my newspaper column readers—easy peasy, seasonally adjustable and delish!”

Oma's Prune Kuchen

Topping
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
1 pkg. vanilla sugar
½ cup cold butter

Batter
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
⅔ cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp lemon juice

12 local Italian prune plums, washed, dried, quartered and pitted (or enough to make one layer on batter)

10”x15” high-rimmed baking sheet

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F. Make topping by combining all dry ingredients and cutting in the cold butter with a pastry cutter until a coarse meal texture is achieved. You can use your food processor to achieve this by pulsating the chop button.

For batter, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another smaller bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients using a wooden spoon and mix well. Pour into pan. Spread fruit over batter in a generous layer. Top with crumb mixture.

Bake approximately 35 to 40 minutes until lightly browned. Refrigerate leftovers. Freezes well.

This cake works well with other Okanagan fruits or berries like apricots, apples, cherries or blueberries, so you can vary your cake by the season.