A simple plum cake made with fresh Italian plums, cinnamon and a yogurt butter batter. No yeast, no chilling. Bakes as two 6 inch cakes or one 9 inch.

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This simple plum cake is a buttery, cinnamon-scented butter cake baked with double the usual amount of fresh Italian plums, left in halves so they settle into the crumb as the cake rises around them, and finished with cinnamon sugar and a heavy dusting of powdered sugar. The batter uses separated eggs, Greek yogurt and sour cream, which keeps it light enough to hold twice the usual amount of fruit without turning dense. It bakes in two 6 inch springform pans in 35 to 45 minutes, or in one 9 inch pan in 50 to 60 minutes, and needs no yeast, no chilling and no streusel. The batter can also be split to make one 6 inch cake plus the base for a German Spiced Plum Cake. Best made with Italian prune plums, which are firm and low in moisture so they hold their shape in the crumb.

One base, whatever fruit is in season

A lot of people seem to believe you need to reinvent the wheel every time you make a new cake. We definitely thought that when we started in our recipe development journey, instead creating your simple bases that are transferable is the way to go. This cake is the base I developed for our Austrian Apricot Sheet Cake, since I needed a cake that was fluffy, moist, and could hold shape against fruit.

As it is a new season: two things did change. We doubled the fruit, and we added 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the batter, which is a spice apricots do not really want and plums absolutely do.

One thing worth explaining, because it is deliberate: we leave the plums in halves. Halves are heavy enough to settle a little as the cake rises, so the batter comes up and over their edges instead of staying flat underneath. You end up with fruit set into the crumb rather than perched on top of it, which is exactly the look in the photos and why every slice has plum running through it rather than a layer sitting on the surface.

That is a choice, not an accident. We have another plum cake where we cut the fruit differently on purpose so it breaks down into a jammier layer through the middle. Same plums, completely different texture. This is the tidier, simpler bake of the two.

What this version is very good at is being easy. One bowl for the batter, one for the whites, no yeast dough to prove, no streusel to rub together. It bakes into two small cakes, which is the reason we keep coming back to it. One to eat this week, one to freeze or give away.

a simple plum cake on a delicate plate topped with icing sugar

What you need to know before you start

Use Italian plums if you can find them. Also sold as prune plums or Zwetschgen, they are the small oval ones that pull cleanly off the pit. They are firmer and less watery than round red plums, so they sit in the batter instead of leaking into it. If all you can get are round plums, cut them a little thicker and pat the cut sides dry.

Halve them, do not slice them. The size of the cut is doing real work here. Halves sink just far enough for the batter to close around them and hold, which is the whole point of this version. Slices and thin wedges sink further and blur into the crumb instead of staying as clear pieces of fruit.

Do not skip the cinnamon sugar on top. We added it after the first bake, when everything came out lovely but pale. It gives the exposed fruit a light crackle and a bit of colour, so the plums read clearly against the crumb once the powdered sugar goes on.

There are three ways to bake it. One 9 inch cake, two 6 inch cakes, or one 6 inch cake plus a base for our German Spiced Plum Cake (coming soon!!). That last one is our favourite way to use this recipe. Same shopping list, same bowl, same twenty minutes of work, and you walk away with two cakes that taste nothing alike: this one clean and buttery with the fruit set into the crumb, the German one squared off under a brown sugar cinnamon topping with a layer of spiced plum jam through the middle. If you are already carrying home a basket of plums, you may as well get both cakes out of it. The topping and jam quantities live in that post.

How to make this Simple Plum Cake

beautiful german plum cake with a perfect crumb and styled on a plate

Makes two 6 inch cakes or one 9 inch cake. Prep 25 minutes, bake 35 to 60 minutes depending on pan size. The batter also splits into one 6 inch cake plus one base for our German Spiced Plum Cake, so you get two completely different cakes out of a single mixing bowl.

Ingredients

For the cake

12 fresh Italian plums, halved and pitted [about 450g]
1 cup unsalted butter, softened [226g] (reserve about 2 tablespoons for greasing the pans)
4 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
¼ cup Greek yogurt [60g]
¼ cup sour cream [60g]
2 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar [150g]
¼ cup brown sugar [50g]
1¼ cups all-purpose flour [150g]
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar, for dusting

For the cinnamon sugar topping

2 tbsp granulated sugar [25g]
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350F (175C). Grease two 6 inch springform pans, or one 9 inch, with the butter you set aside, then line the bases with parchment. Springform matters more than usual here. The cake is heavy with fruit and you do not want to be flipping it out of a solid pan.
Halve the plums and pull out the pits, and stop there. Do not quarter or slice them. The weight of a full half is what lets it settle into the batter while the cake rises past it. Stir the topping sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and leave it by the oven.
Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks in a clean bowl, meaning the peak flops over when you lift the whisk out. Set them aside while you build the rest of the batter. They will hold for the few minutes this takes.
Beat the butter with the granulated and brown sugar until pale and noticeably lighter, about 3 to 4 minutes. Do not rush it. Besides the whites, this is the only air the batter gets. Add the cinnamon and the lemon zest now, while it is still just butter and sugar, and beat another 30 seconds until the mixture goes a shade darker. This is worth doing in this order. Ground spice clings to fat and disperses through it evenly, where stirred into the flour it tends to sit in pockets and taste dusty. The zest gives up its oils to the sugar at the same time.
Add the yolks one at a time, beating until each one disappears before the next goes in, then the vanilla.
Mix in the yogurt and sour cream until just combined. The batter may look curdled or split at this point. That is normal with this much cold dairy going into creamed butter, and it pulls back together the moment the flour arrives.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together, then fold them in with a spatula and stop while a few floury streaks are still showing. Fold in the whipped whites in two additions. Work the first third in properly to loosen the batter, then fold the rest through gently. A few white streaks left behind are better than a deflated batter.
Divide the batter between the pans and smooth the tops. Set the plum halves cut side up over the surface and press each one about halfway down. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over everything, fruit and batter alike.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes for the 6 inch pans, or 50 to 60 minutes for the 9 inch, until a skewer in the centre comes out clean and the middle reads 200 to 205F. Tent with foil if the tops are colouring before the centre sets, which happens more often in the 9 inch. Cool 15 minutes in the pan before you release the ring, then cool fully on a rack. Dust generously with powdered sugar just before serving.

Questions we get asked

Can I use regular plums instead of Italian plums?

Yes, but they hold more water. Cut them into thick wedges rather than halves, pat the cut faces dry, and expect a slightly wetter line where the fruit meets the crumb.

Do I have to bake it in two pans?

No. One 9 inch springform works, it just needs closer to an hour. Two 6 inch pans is our preference because the slices are taller and the cake bakes more evenly under all that fruit.

Why are the eggs separated?

The batter is heavy with butter, yogurt and sour cream, and it is carrying double the usual fruit. Folding in whipped whites gives it the lift it needs to climb up around the plum halves instead of sitting flat and dense underneath them.

Why do the plums sink into the cake?

Because we want them to. Halved plums are heavy enough to settle a little while the batter rises past them, which sets the fruit into the crumb instead of leaving it on the surface. If you would rather the halves stay proudly on top, cut them thinner sliced. OR place them on after the first 15 minutes of baking, once the surface has set.

How long does it keep?

Three days covered at room temperature, and it is better on day two once the cinnamon has settled through. Dust with fresh powdered sugar before serving, since the first dusting soaks in. It also freezes well, wrapped whole and undusted.

If you like plums, bake these next

We put up a lot of plum recipes every autumn, and these two are the ones we make on repeat once the Italian plums are in.

Or if it is the cake you are after, these run on the same idea of a good base and whatever fruit is in season:

That last one is the cake this recipe grew out of.

Sidney & Thomas Johnson-Quesnelle

A Simple Plum Cake (German)

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A simple plum cake made with fresh Italian plums, cinnamon and a yogurt butter batter. No yeast, no chilling. Bakes as two 6 inch cakes or one 9 inch.

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Servings: 12 slices

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: German

Calories:

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