Seasonal – depending on plum season.
Plum cake is one of our absolute favourites. Especially fresh out of the oven and still warm, it often doesn't stand much of a chance with Romed.
So I was all the more delighted when I actually found plums on one of our holidays. Of course that evening in our Airbnb we immediately had ice cream with stewed plums – after all, you have to make the most of it when you come across real plums in Mexico.
And now I can bake plum cake here to my heart's content. What makes me especially happy: it goes down phenomenally well not only with us but with Mexicans too. Apparently plum cake needs no explanation – you just have to try it.
Instead of crumble, I now top it with toasted pecans – it hardly gets more Mexican than that.
Ingredients
Batter & Filling
- 500 g Italian plums or other plums
- 125 g soft butter
- 100 g brown sugar
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped out, or alternatively a little finely grated tonka bean
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2–3 eggs
- 180 g flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- a little butter for the pan
Pecan topping
- 70 g pecans, coarsely chopped
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Method
- The plums: Wash, pit and quarter the plums. If you use larger plums, I'd take a little less, as they usually release much more juice. If the fruit is already very juicy while pitting, you can let it drain briefly in a sieve until you're ready to top the cake. Grease the 30 × 30 cm springform pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 180 °C top and bottom heat.
- The batter: Beat the soft butter together with the brown sugar, the scraped vanilla seeds or the finely grated tonka bean and a pinch of salt for about 3–5 minutes until nice and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix in well. Combine the flour and baking powder and then work them into the batter. This is where I switch to a spatula: with a hand mixer the batter is quickly overmixed. If the flour is only folded in briefly and gently, the cake stays nice and light. Spread the batter evenly in the greased pan. Press the prepared plums closely into the batter.
- The pecan topping: Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the plums. Scatter the coarsely chopped pecans evenly over the top.
- Baking: Bake the cake in the preheated oven at 180 °C top and bottom heat for about 35–40 minutes. The nuts should smell nicely toasted but not get too dark – if necessary, cover with baking paper for the last few minutes. Then let it cool. If you like, dust it with a little powdered sugar before serving.
Sabine's Tip
When baking, I almost always use brown sugar – with one exception: for a delicate sponge I stick with white sugar. Otherwise I love the caramel-like, slightly fuller flavour that brown sugar brings to cakes and desserts. In this plum cake in particular, it goes wonderfully with the fruit, the cinnamon and the toasted pecans.
And when it comes to vanilla, my rule is: if you're going to use vanilla, do it properly. Either a real vanilla pod goes in – or my beloved tonka bean. It gives the cake a very special, wonderfully warm and slightly almond-like note.
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