The cheerful super table, with the twins’ bright faces, and Marilla’s matchless plum puffs … of which Davy ate four … did “hearten her up” considerably after all. (Montgomery 99)

Did it measure up?
Hell no. Bahahaha, these were TERRIBLE. They were like Pop Tarts gone wrong. We realized afterward that the vanilla we used was partly to blame — no, it was not anodyne liniment, but the brand we used had an unfortunate medicinal flavor that this recipe really brought out. Gross. And as you can see, there was absolutely nothing puffy about these sad “puffs.” We took them to work, but not even our coworkers would eat them when they were starving and desperate for a snack on their break.

We are starting to wonder if LMM just had very different palate than we do…

(We’re going to make plum puffs again, but the version that we imagined. They are going to be so much better than these authentic puffs.)

MARILLA’S (NOT SO) MATCHLESS PLUM PUFFS

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 2.5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• Plum preserves
• 1 tbs butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Cream sugar and shortening together well.

2. Beat in egg. Sift and add dry ingredients alternately with milk and vanilla.

3. Divide the dough in half and press half into a greased 9″x13″ pan.

4. Warm plum preserves in a saucepan and add butter and vanilla. Let it cool a little and spread over the first layer of dough.

5. Knead and roll the remaining dough o a well-floured board into a 9×13 rectangle.

7. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.