Plum Cake (Pflaumenkuchen)

We are lucky to have two plum trees in our garden which every year in late August / early September supply us with an abundance of Victoria plums.  After publishing this photograph on Postcards from Wildwood I was asked for the recipe, so here it is.

I adore Eastern European cakes that incorporate fresh fruit.  This Pflaumenkuchen – German plum cake – is just one of the recipes I use again and again.  Baked in a shallow tin (pan), it’s really more of a tart than a cake.  You can substitute any fresh stoned fruits in season for the plums.

What you need

• 8 oz (225 g) Self-Raising flour plus 1 level tspn baking powder
• OR 8 oz (225 g) Plain flour (All Purpose flour) plus 3 level tspns baking powder and a pinch of salt
• 3 oz (75 g) butter
• 5 oz (125 g) golden caster sugar
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/4 pint (125 ml) milk

For the topping:

• 2 lb (1 kg) plums – that’s the weight before stoning
• more golden caster sugar for sprinkling

To make

1. Preheat oven to 190C / 375F / Gas mark 5.
2. Oil a tin measuring roughly 12 x 9 x 2 inches (30 x 23 x 5 cm).
3. Put all the ingredients except the plums and the additional sugar for sprinkling into a bowl or food processor and beat until you have a thick, smooth batter.
4. Stone and halve the plums and arrange them, cut side up, all over the surface of the batter.
5. Sprinkle the surface with sugar.
6. Bake for 40 minutes, until well risen.  If desired, sprinkle a little more sugar on top.  Allow to cool in the tin.

We usually eat the first slices warm, but the cold leftovers taste just as good.

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