Plum-Quat Marmalade or Fruit Butter

My Sweet Little Kumquat Tree

7 lg. kumquats

7 almost ripe plums

2 'cuties' with peel

This measured out to 3 cups of very finely sliced-chopped fruit.  Use the whole kumquat.  Slice in quarters lengthwise then cut each into 3 long sections.  Remove seeds and finely chop.  Remove the peel from the cuties, thinly slice then cut each length ⅓" long.  Chop the orange finely and add to the mix.

2c sugar

1t pumpkin pie seasoning

a big shake of black pepper

a small shake of cayenne pepper

¾c water

½c of real butter

Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 4 minutes. Add the fruit and simmer 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let the mixture cool a bit. Strain the liquid into a bowl then bring that to a simmer for another 5 minutes to reduce and thicken it. Add the fruit again, cook a little longer, to thicken, then cool again and refrigerate in a covered bowl. If you want, stir in the butter at the end of the cooking time, making this a fruit butter, good on toast, muffins or biscuits. . .Lin

Lemon Plum Cake

3 finely chopped plums

½ grated frozen lemon *

2T white or brown sugar

1t cornstarch ~

1½c unbleached flour

2t pumpkin pie spice

½t baking soda

¼t salt

½c (1 stick) butter -

- at room temperature

¼c melted coconut oil

½c organic white sugar

½c dark brown sugar

½ grated frozen lemon

½c plain Greek yogurt

3 lg. eggs

Put first 3 ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and cook on low, 7-12 minutes.  It should be starting to sauce-up and thicken.  If it isn't, ~ add cornstarch and bring to a bubble again.  Take off the heat and cool slightly.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl.  In a medium bowl, beat the next ingredients together until smooth and fluffy.  Slowly add the dry ingredients, whisking or beating until incorporated.

Pour into a greased 9" glass baking pan.  Drop spoonfuls of the plum mixture on top - OR - pour half the batter into the pan.  Combine the remaining batter with the fruit, then pour over the plain better.  Use a kitchen knife to marble the layers a bit.  I kept them separate and the fruit sank to the bottom during baking.  Sprinkle the top of the cake with cinnamon sugar or plain, coarse, turbinado sugar.  Bake at 350° for 50 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test. . .Lin