As the plum season arrives, get ready to savor the delightful flavors of the plum cake recipe! With ripe and juicy plums as the star ingredient, this moist and aromatic dessert is a perfect balance of sweet and tangy. Whether you’re hosting a special occasion or simply craving a treat for your tea time, this plum cake will steal the show.
This recipe is a replication of the famous New York Times Original Plum Torte. The recipe was published by The Times for several years in a row during the plum season. Here, In California, is already the plum season. I baked this cake last weekend and invited friends to enjoy it.
Follow the easy steps below, and you’ll have a moist and flavorful dessert to impress your friends and family.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 1/2 cup sugar – the original recipe lists 3/4 to 1 cup sugar, but I normally prefer to use less sugar, so I reduced it 1/2 cup. Also, it depends on the sweetness of your plums. Mine were quite sweet, so 1/2 cup worked well for me.
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup unbleached flour, sifted – I measured 1 cup of flour first, then sifted.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt – the original recipe says optional, I prefer to add. It adds depth to the flavor.
- 2 eggs
For the filling:
- pitted purple plums, halves – the original recipe lists 24 halves, but my plums were quite big, and I needed only 12 halves
- sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, for topping – I didn’t use cinnamon, wanted to taste pure plums, so it’s based on your personal preferences
Cooking Directions:
- Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl with a hand-held mixer
- Add salt and eggs and beat well
- Add the sifted flour and baking powder and mix well together
- Spoon the batter into a springform pan. I used 9 inches pan. The New York Times recipe suggests 8, 9 or 10 inches pan. The bigger pan you have, the more plums you can fit.
- Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter.
- Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon juice, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with cinnamon if you chose to use it.
- Bake in the preheated to 350F oven for approximately 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and cool.
Serve plain with tea or coffee and enjoy!
I let it cool to lukewarm and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm…