Plum Cake
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This plum cake is unbelievably easy and so moist and delicious! Fresh juicy plums are tucked into a simple, cardamom spiced batter then sprinkled with lemon sugar. The plums melt into the batter with jammy fruit pockets with a sweetness that balances the tartness of the plums.
This recipe is based on the New York Times plum torte recipe. I’ve made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe, resulting in a moist cake that’s not too sweet with a hint of cardamom and ginger. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee, or even as part of a breakfast spread.
Torte, tart, or cake?
While the NYT calls it a torte, it does lack some torte characteristics. Tortes can have layers and can be dense; they can be made with meringue or have fillings, but this recipe does not include any of these components. The batter is more like a cake batter, studded with lots of fresh plums, then topped with sanding sugar. It’s not too sweet with just a hint of spice. This plum cake is similar to a German plum kuchen. The recipe works well with any stone fruit
Cardamom or cinnamon?
The original recipe calls for cinnamon. While I love cinnamon in Apple Desserts or cinnamon rolls, I feel it’s become the catch-all spice for fruit desserts. I substituted the cinnamon for cardamom and added ginger, which I feel complements the plums. Cardamom is common in Scandinavian cuisine and is a natural companion to plums.
When is plum season?
Depending on where you live and the variety, plum season runs from May to October. Read more about plum varieties via Melissa’s Produce.
Types of plums
Some of the many varieties of plums are:
- Empress plums: late harvest from late summer to early autumn with deep, dark purple skin.
- Italian plums, also called Italian prune plums, are in season from late August to September.
- Santa Rosa plums: early summer to mid-July with reddish purple skin.
Ingredients for plum cake
The original recipe calls for 10 plums, but unless you have very tiny plums, I use anywhere from 6 to 8 plums. Coarse Sanding Sugar is sprinkled on top of the cake before baking. If you don’t have sanding sugar, substitute regular sugar.
- Fresh ripe plums
- Granulated sugar
- Butter
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher or sea salt
- Ground cardamom
- Ground ginger
- Lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- Sanding sugar
How to make plum cake
For best results, the eggs and butter should be room temperature. This is one of those cakes that actually tastes better the next day! A Springform Pan works best for this recipe because it makes it easy to remove. You can also use an 8 or 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment paper if you don’t have a springform.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a springform pan or an 8-inch or 9-inch pan, lined with parchment paper. Butter the bottom and sides of the pan
- Slice plums in half and remove pits. Mix sanding sugar with lemon zest.
- Mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, ground cardamom, and ginger in a small bowl.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar until well blended.
- Add eggs and lemon juice and mix until blended.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix at low speed just until blended.
- Spread batter into prepared pan.
- Press sliced plum halves and press them into the batter, skin side up, in a circular pattern.
- Sprinkle the top of the batter with sugar and zest mixture.
- Bake in the center of the oven at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool cake completely on a wire rack. Serve cake on its own, with lightly sweetened whipped cream, Creme Anglaise, Creme Fraiche, or a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.
- Store leftover cake in plastic wrap or aluminum foil at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Looking for more easy desserts?
Plum Cake
Ingredients
- 5.2 ounces granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
- 4 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 4.7 ounces all-purpose flour (1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 8 ripe plums halved and pitted
- 1/4 cup sanding or coarse sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line and grease an 8 or 9-inch springform or baking pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, and lemon juice and mix.
- Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom and ginger in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture to butter and eggs, mixing just until well blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Rub the lemon zest and sanding sugar together until mixed.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Push plum halves into the batter. Sprinkle the top of the cake with lemon sugar.
- Bake in center of the oven at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes or until top is golden brown and tester inserted in center releases with soft moist crumbs.
- Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes, then remove springform and let cake finish cooling on a wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature.
- Plum cake will stay fresh and moist well wrapped on the counter. No need to refrigerate!
