Nothing says summertime like a fresh baked fruit… cake?
Summertime means different things to different people. To our kids it means 12 weeks free of school and homework, replaced by time with friends and lots of play. To farmers it is a time to showcase the produce they have been working so hard to cultivate all year long, and to see a return on their investment. To me summer means pies, lots and lots of pies. That’s because summertime is peak season for all of my favorite fruits. And what better to do with a bushel full of fresh fruit than to bake a pie?
From farmer’s market to kitchen table. Feel the inspiration and get baking!
But let’s face it, while a fruit pie is a delicious classic, it’s also an obvious choice, some would even call it unoriginal. I’m the only one in my family that actually likes pies – including banana and coconut cream (which is blasphemous in my opinion) – so when I bake pies, I end up eating most of them myself and then the rest goes to waste. It was time to try something different, something that everyone would be excited to try, and I came across a recipe for an Austrian Plum Cake.
The Austrian Plum Cake tastes even better than it looks so be prepared to not have any leftovers!
The Austrian Plum Cake is an elegant, unexpected fruit-filled delight that is ridiculously quick and easy to make. The cake itself is astoundingly light, while the plums lend a tart note that creates an overall sophisticated, yet accessible, dessert experience.
Be prepared to not have any leftovers with this one. My experience is that this is one of those desserts where everyone asks for seconds. Enjoy!
People need to eat more fresh-baked cake!
AUSTRIAN PLUM CAKE – THE RECIPE
Ingredients
Step 1
Heat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack in the middle. Prepare your 9” springform pan by spraying with baking spray, then set aside.
Step 2
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or hand-held mixer if you don’t have a standing one), mix the flour, ½ cup of sugar, baking powder and salt on low until combined, about 5 seconds. With the mixer running, add butter one piece at a time and keep mixing until it starts to resemble moist sand, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Increase your speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about one minute. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Step 3
Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and even out with an off-set spatula. Place your plum slices, on their cut sides, on top of the batter in a pattern of two circles. The batter is pretty forgiving if you need to pull out the slices and rearrange.
Step 4
With the remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar, sprinkle on top of your plum cake. Pop into the oven and bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 30 minutes, then pop off the pan sides. Dust the pan with powdered sugar and serve!
Please tell us what you think, we really want to know!
Tell us what you think!
Please comment below if you try the Austrian Plum Cake recipe and let us know how it goes! Find all of Brooklyn to the Catskills‘ recipes in the Food section of our website. We’d love to hear what you think about our other recipes too!
Have made this cake many times and it is always a success. Serve it with whipped cream and everyone loves it. It is so easy and so forgiving, one cannot go wrong!
My grandmother, Grossmutti, lived with us until her death in 1984. One of my favorite desserts was her delectable “Pflamekuchen.”. I am very excited about your recipe. I remember her putting the pie together. Of course, I would help her in the kitchen all the time, baking bread, Schwartzebrot, which today is still my favorite; assembling fruit pies, cakes, etc;
cooking main dishes, like marinades, especially for game recipes, although I’ve now been a vegetarian for my entire adult life, over 40 yrs.
I am so glad you enjoyed this article! All of my recipes are vegetarian so you may find some more you like as well 🙂
Made it several times it comes out flat more like a torte if i double the recipe its big as shown in your pictures input followed all steps un order
Hi @Emerald608,
I am so sorry to hear you are having problems with the recipe. The cake isn’t extremely fluffy but it definitely shouldn’t be turning out flat like a pancake.
I double checked the recipe and all of the measurements and steps are correct. The recipe itself is pretty basic so the only thing I can think of would be the butter. Did you cut it up and let it come to room temperature before using? The only other thing I can think to ask is did you use a pan bigger than 9″? That would cause it to flatten out a bit.
Again I’m really sorry the recipe isn’t working out for you. The next time I go to the store I will buy plums to make it again and see if there is anything else I can tell you. I hope at least it tasted delicious.
Thanks for letting me know,
Katie
Same here! I followed this directly from the Milk Street recipe, but I had to bake it at 350, and used unsalted butter. Still delicious and I actually prefer the flatter cake, the fruit looks much nicer on top.
The best of many plum cake recipes I have tried. I love it. Will it work with apples??
Wondered if apples or other fruits would work in this wonderful plum cake recipe.
Hi Brenda,
One of the reasons this cake works so well is the tartness of the plums is complimented by the neutralness of the cake. Apples tend to be sweeter and they are typically baked at a much higher temperature than this cake base would tolerate. It might be better to use another stone fruit like cherries or nectarines.
If you do decide to try baking this with apples I would use a tart Granny Smith and pre-cook them for 15-20 minutes in a pan with some butter, a little lemon zest, a pinch of salt, and maybe a small amount of granulated sugar + brown sugar, and then let cool before adding to the batter and baking the cake. You’d have to experiment to find the right balance between the taste + texture of the apples relative to the cake base.
Definitely let us know how it goes if you decide to play with baking with apples. Good luck!
Katie
Made in 9 inch springform pan always flat i double batter as well