Chocolate Skillet Cake with Santa Rosa + toasted Coconut shavings

When I miss people, I bake. Its an odd habit I picked up when I was younger. When friends or family would go on trips or as of lately when I've felt homesick, I'm attached to the oven, baking my feelings. Theres something about opening the oven to a tasty dessert thats like seeing an old friend again. I also love simple one pan meals.

Lately we've had a lot of gorgeous Santa Rosa plums bursting from our fruit trees in Boulder Creek. One day at lunch I was staring at a gorgeous bowl of plums sitting on the table when I realized how badly I wanted chocolate, which is pretty much always. Suddenly this recipe occurred to me! I find that the chocolate cuts through the sharp sweetness of the plums. This cake is inspired by a few different recipes. The caramelizing of the plums and the use of the skillet stemmed from the idea of a tarte tatin mixed with the gluten free buckwheat chocolate almond cake I made last month. Most stone fruits would work well and the addition of jam or a chocolate drizzle takes the cake to the next level.

Chocolate Plum Skillet Cake

4-5 ripe plums

2 tablespoons butter

6 oz (170g) chocolate*

1/2 cup (115g) butter

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup almonds, roasted

1/4 cup buckwheat flour (35g)

powdered sugar & cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. Half plums and remove pits. In a 8-10 inch cast iron skillet heat 1 tbsp butter and when hot lay plums down face down and allow to caramelize for about 5 minutes. Flip to skin side and cook for an additional 5. Add another tablespoon of butter and swirl in the skillet. Set aside. In a double boiler, melt down remaining butter and add chocolate. Once melted remove and allow to cool. In a bowl, separate eggs into whites and yolks. Whisk the egg yolks, half of the sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and salt, stir in melted chocolate. In a food processor pulse almonds until fine and add in the buckwheat flour. Stir into chocolate mixture. In a mixture (or by hand if you want a work out!) whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, add the remaining sugar and beat until firm peaks form. Slowly fold into chocolate mixture. Scrap bowl into skillet with plums and bake for 25-30 minutes or until slightly firm in the center. Cool and remove from pan and dust with powdered sugar & cocoa powder, or jam & chocolate and enjoy with a scoop of ice cream for added decadence!

* I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark chocolate would be amazing as well.