This is where the blog really fails us all. I got worried that, in the midst of making the never-ending sourdough, I was going to default on my weekly blogging promise. Instead of having multiple breads up my sleeve I was counting on one saviour and I was also intending to be away from home for the next two weekends. What I’m saying is, I got a bit desperate for content. I am letting you know this because it’s important to frame up the backstory for this particular ‘bread’.
While fretting about how long the sourdough was taking and how away from the kitchen I was going to be, I vaguely remembered seeing yeasted cakes being baked on Great British Bake Off. So, assuming (correctly) that they would be easier to whip up than an actual bread, I googled ‘yeasted cakes’. That’s where I found this one.
My strong feeling both before and after this making this is ‘why would you involve yeast?’…a streusel plum cake is a very delicious sounding thing, and making the cake breadier honestly feels like a dumb idea. You can see that there was no stage where either myself or anyone around me expressed an interest in eating a yeasted cake.
Having made it, I can safely say there’s still only minimal interest.
This breadcake has some pros/redeeming features. I list them here for your consideration:
– Looks nice in photographs
– Has delicious plums on top
– Has sugary streusel on top
– Not tempting to over-eat
– Easy to make, especially if you are feeling so tired and overwhelmed by the sourdough schedule that you play it fast and loose with the timings
– Made me go find fresh yeast in Melbourne which will definitely come in handy for something nicer
– Because it isn’t very nice I don’t have to type up the recipe!
– Proves that I have good instincts about what I will and won’t like. Yeasted cakes = no thank you.
On the other hand, here are the cons:
– Base is not a delicious moist cake, it is a not-very-sweet bread
– The not-very-sweet-bread-base is overcooked underneath (that is likely user error, let’s not blame the recipe for that)
– But even if it wasn’t I think it would’ve tasted worse than a cake
– By a considerable margin.
– Goes stale way quicker than a cake (worst of both worlds)
– Has an icing that delivers absolutely nothing = emptiest of calories
– Needs to be thrown out because you don’t eat all of it and then you feel guilty and wasteful
So yeah. I won’t make this again and I also won’t rush to find other yeasted cake recipes to make or to eat. I might make a streusel plum cake though, that sounds really good…
Are you feeling crazy and/or defiant? Do you just really like the sound of plums and sugar atop an average bread? Don’t let me stop you, the recipe is right here.
Bready Set Dough 