Spiced Sour Cream Plum Bread
October 5, 2014 • Breads, Breakfast, Desserts,
Today would have been my dad’s 81st birthday. He loved sweets (which I’m sure contributed to his health challenges) and he would have loved today’s post. He was my biggest fan, I’m certain of that. After he died, I found an email from him from a Christmas dinner a year or two before. It said simply, “You are an unbelievable woman—and I love you for it.” You can bet I’m keeping that email forever. This is for you dad – miss you every day. 
It seems everyone I know who helped harvest my plums this year whipped up some great dessert with them. Well, as you know, I’m not much of a baker. I tried these plum oatmeal bar cookies…but they were just okay tasting, and were a complete mess to get out of the pan.
But if there is one thing I know how to bake, it’s quick breads. I threw this recipe together in a jiffy, pulling on various versions of something like this I’ve done in the past. You’re going to like it!
One thing I can never remember is whether you let it cool in the pan or on a rack. Turns out it needs to cool in the pan first or will fall apart when you take it out and look something like this mess. I also think using some parchment paper on the bottom would help it release a bit easier.
That didn’t stop me from eating it, by the way. And perhaps now I understand just a little bit how my friend Kirsten is about getting her sweet treat each day. I had a slice with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, and that was a quite nice. (And how did I never notice that my dishes have plums on them? Fitting, right?)
This recipe makes 2 loaves, so you can enjoy one and wrap the other one up to freeze for later. I also think this recipe would work well to make into muffins – and then you won’t need to worry about getting the loaves out of the pan in one piece. The only downside to this recipe: it only used 2 cups of the massive plum harvest!
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 eggs
- 8 ounces sour cream (light or regular)
- 1½ cups flour
- 1½ cups oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ - 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pinch salt
- 2 cups chopped plums
- Cream the butter, olive oil, and sugar together until smooth. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated and then add the sour cream and mix on low until smooth.
- Slowly add the flour until just barely mixed. Combine the oats with the baking powder, baking soda, and spices in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the oats are finely ground. With the mixer on low, add the oats, scraping down the sides until everything is just barely combined. Stir in the plums.
- Spray 2 9-inch loaf pans with cooking spray, cover the bottoms with parchment paper, and spoon the batter evenly between the two. Bake at 375 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool in the pans and then invert to remove the loaves.