Soups & Starters
Baking & Bread
Plum cake
A fantastically moist and fruity cake that's perfect as a dessert too
I have so many plums in my garden this year (2022) and I am making all sorts of things with them, but I suspect this is going to turn out to be my favourite recipe. I wasn’t sure whether to put it in the Baking category or the Pudding category - I’ve opted for the former, but it’s just as nice served with custard, cream or crème fraîche as a dessert.
Actually, I first made the recipe using pears and that was fabulous - but with plums it’s even better!
I’ve used Marsala for the caramel topping, which really adds something special to the flavour, but lemon juice would work too if you prefer.
Ingredients
Serves 10
- For the caramel:
- 50g caster sugar
- 25g butter
- 150ml Marsala (or juice of a lemon)
- For the cake:
- 10 plums, stoned and cut in half (or 4 pears)
- Handful of flaked almonds
- 250g sugar
- 250g very soft butter
- 200g self-raising flour
- 60g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 eggs
- To finish:
- Juice of a lemon
Method
Line a 23cm loose-bottomed tin with baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan). Stand the tin on a baking sheet with a rim (to catch any juices) and arrange the plums in the bottom of the tin. Scatter over the flaked almonds.
Put the caramel ingredients in a small pan and heat slowly until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat and boil until you have a rich, syrupy caramel. Pour this over the plums.
Next, put all the remaining cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric whisk or mixer until well combined and fairly airy. Spoon or pour over the plums and bake for 60-70 mins (NB: you'll need to cover it with foil halfway through to stop it becoming too brown).
Test with a metal skewer or knife inserted into the centre of the cake - if it comes out clean and the cake is firm, it's ready.
Once it's out of the oven, use a skewer or the point of a knife to make tiny holes all over the cake and pour over the lemon juice - you may not need all the juice, just enough so that the whole of the cake is covered.
Leave in the tin to cool for 30 mins then invert onto a plate.
A Cook's Plot Tip
The cake stores well - in fact, it's at it's best 24 hours after it's made (though it's still pretty good if you eat it straightaway!)