This right here is one of the luscious hybrids of bread and dessert that exist in the world. The juicy tart plums are tamed by a delightful sweetened whole grain dough and a delicate dusting of confectioners sugar. It’s well worth the time spent waiting for it to rise, perfect all year round, delicious cold with whipped coconut cream or hot with spice stewed plums and vegan vanilla ice cream. I only wish I had made this sooner! You can also top this with fruit to match your season and use white bread flour, or spelt, though I would recommend cutting down the amount of liquid as the whole grain flours used in this recipe require more water than spelt or white flour.

Ingredients:
Dough:
1/2 cup almond milk/ soy milk
1/4 cup vegan margarine/ a few tbsp canola oil
2 1/3 cups Dove farms organic heritage flour/ other wholewheat flour
2 tsp dried yeast, divided
pinch o’ salt
1/3 cup unrefined golden caster sugar
grated zest of 1 orange

Plum topping:
Approximately 5 big plums, cut into segments
3 tbsp unrefined golden caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg

The glaze:
scant 1/4 cup agave syrup or favorite syrup
3 tbsp warm water

Method:
Gently heat the vegan margarine and milk together in a saucepan on a low heat until the margarine has melted, allow to cool until tepid/lukewarm, then whisk in 1 tsp of your dried yeast.

Now add the orange zest to the liquid. Whisk the dry ingredients, and the other tsp yeast, together in a mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour in the wet, mix well for a few minutes, until it comes together and then need for about 5-8 minutes, because the dough will be wet you need to use the “pull and fold” method for kneading until the dough is worked together enough to knead properly. To do this pull the dough from the edge and fold it over its self. Repeat until it becomes a workable dough the knead until elastic and place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled in size, grease a 9″ round spring form cake tin and press the dough into the base with the tips of your fingers. Preheat the oven to 180c/360f. Stir together the cinnamon, nutmeg and golden caster sugar and sprinkle half the mix onto the dough, then arrange the plum segments on the dough and sprinkle the remaining sugar mix on top. Allow to rise up again for another 30 minutes then bake for about 35-40 minutes until the plums are just starting to brown and the dough is turning dark brown around the edges. Whisk together the syrup and the warm water and pour the glaze over the bread/cake as soon as it comes out of the oven, allow to cool in the tin before taking out, slicing and lightly dusting with icing sugar.