Plum Cake (Pflaumenkuchen)

It's only fitting that my first recipe would be an old German recipe that I remember from my childhood. When the season for Italian plums came, mom purchased a few pounds and I helped her create a delicious plum cake. In Germany it's called pflaumenkuchen. I followed mom's tradition and frequently made this cake for my children. Last week I was food shopping and as I passed the produce I spotted the Italian plums! They jumped off the shelf and into my shopping cart. A few days later the cake was in the oven and the next day Dawn and Derek and Emma came for dinner. Dawn was happy to taste an old favorite and Derek informed me that plums are one of his favorite fruit. Emma just kept eating, didn't have time for comments. Please note that the season for Italian plums is short, only about 2-3 weeks long. I guess that's why it's such a treat. Many times we made 2 or 3 cakes, cut up the 'sheet of cake' into 4 pieces, wrapped in plastic wrap and then a layer of foil around to protect from freezer burn and you have cake for a 5-6 months (if you can keep everybody out of the freezer). So here it is. Enjoy!
1/2 lb butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 pkg vanilla sugar *
3 eggs
3.5 oz. corn starch or potato starch
1.75 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup milk (I used soy milk for the first time and it was great!)
1 T. rum flavoring
2 lbs. plums, washed, remove pit, cut into quarters (or sixths if large plum)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
With mixer, whip butter, slowly add sugar, including vanilla sugar*. Beat until fluffy, then add one egg at a time, mixing after each addition. In a separate bowl, measure flour, add baking powder and corn/potato starch. Add dry ingredients alternating with milk, mixing well after each addition. Add rum flavoring. Take a jelly roll pan, spray with baking spray (Pam, bakers choice, etc.). Spread dough onto sheet. The dough is thick so gently spread it to all corners. Place plums on dough, one piece right next to the other. See picture. Sprinkle the top with another package of vanilla sugar. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Check cake. It should be a light brown color. See picture. * vanilla sugar can be purchased packages in any European food market or German butcher. You can also make your own. Take a large glass jar, fill half way with sugar, take a vanilla bean split in half, place in the center of the sugar, add remaining sugar. Works well with a 2 lb. box of sugar. Vanilla sugar can also be purchased on the internet at www.germandeli.com.