Oma's Plum Kuchen

When those Italian plums (prune plums) show up in the grocery store in late summer, I always think of Oma. She had a dough recipe that she used for making sticky buns, pineapple rolls, and most importantly, plum kuchen (koo-ken). She was a loving grandmother and a great cook, and was so generous with her time and talent. (Among other things, she made me some special birthday cakes and gave me the cake decorating bug.)

I hardly ever buy the plums or try to bake with them myself, but this year I went crazy and bought a five pound box at Costco! Let me tell you, that is A LOT of little plums! I came home and almost desperately prepared a batch of kuchen. Yum! I finished the box a few days later with another 1/2 batch, which is documented below. I've adapted it a bit, as is my usual practice (can't leave well enough alone...). Enjoy.

By the way, there are many kinds of kuchen. This one is essentially bread and fruit, and is only lightly sweetened. I think some are much sweeter and cakier in texture, but this is the kuchen I've always known and loved.

Kuchen
2 cups milk
2 pkgs yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
2 Tbsp instant potato
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
6-7 cups flour
1 egg
Italian plums (40-50)
cinnamon sugar

• Heat milk to 105-115* and pour some into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Add instant potato and yeast and stir to dissolve.
• Add butter to the remaining milk and heat just enough to melt the butter. Add sugar and salt, stir, and set aside to cool slightly.
• Add some flour to the yeast mixture and mix on low speed. Add egg and some more flour and continue mixing. Gradually add the warm milk/butter mixture and continue mixing. Continue adding flour in small amounts (speed 2 on Kitchen Aid) until the dough is smooth and leaves the sides of the bowl. Let it continue mixing for 2 more minutes.
• Turn dough out and lightly oil the mixing bowl. Form the dough into a ball and put it back into the bowl, turning it over so all surfaces are greased. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size (40-80 minutes). Punch down dough and let it rise 2 more times.
• Punch down the dough a final time, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Let it rest while you grease your pans. Roll out the dough (it will be thin) and place in pans.
• Sprinkle dough with cinnamon sugar, cover with plum halves (skin side down), and sprinkle again with cinnamon sugar. Let rise again, then bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Best eaten warm!
• Yield: 7 round cake pans or 2 (~11 x 17") jelly roll pans/baking sheets with sides

Notes:

• Most of the dough ingredients can be added in any order. Just don't add the salt to the initial yeast mixture, and don't add the hot milk/butter until there are enough other ingredients to stop that heat from overwhelming and killing the yeast.
• Quicker rising: Boil water in the microwave (in a Pyrex measuring cup). Leave the cup of water in there and put in the mixing bowl of dough. It's now in a very warm, humid environment.
• The second and third rises are much quicker than the first. Be ready.
• The dough may have to rest now and then during rolling out. You'll know because it will keep pulling back and resisting your stretching. Leave it for a few minutes until it is cooperative again.
• The first time, I misread the recipe and baked the kuchen at 375* for 20 minutes. It was just as good.
• Oma's recipe said the dough would be less than 1/2", but I was nervous because it was MUCH thinner. This picture doesn't do it justice--I'll bet it was below 1/4".

Here's a picture of a panful of dough and fruit. The fruit looks HUGE on the thin layer of dough--don't worry! All will be well. (The white stuff in the lower left corner is sparkle sugar I added. Don't bother--most of it melted, and what remained wasn't worth the effort.)

Below is the unrisen dough with raw plums on it. Notice how much of the pan sides you can see.

See the puffiness now just before going into the oven.

And the extra rise from baking. Don't the plums look luscious now?

Kuchen is best eaten warm from the oven. It is also excellent the next day for breakfast (wrap tightly), IF you microwave it for a few seconds to freshen it up.

Thanks, Oma, for all the love.