Late Summer Plum Cake
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Gently spiced, this jammy plum cake celebrates the summer-into-fall season. Serve it for brunch or dessert.
Taking a cue from Martha Stewart’s fresh strawberry cake (a favorite on this site), this plum cake is the perfect dessert for late summer when plums are at their prime. Tucked into the batter, the fruit bakes into rich, jammy pockets, while warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom add a hint of cozy fall flavors. Enjoy this dessert any time of day—plain and simple with a cup of coffee, or topped with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
“A wonderful cake! The spices really make it stand out and the plums cut through to make the whole thing sing!”
What you’ll need to make Plum Cake
- Flour, baking powder, and salt – Your dry base to give the cake structure.
- Warm spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom) – Just enough to give the cake a cozy, fall-like flavor.
- Butter and sugar – Creamed together until light and fluffy for that tender crumb. A little sugar is also sprinkled over the top so the cake gets a caramelized finish.
- Egg and vanilla – Bind the batter and add depth of flavor.
- Milk – Any kind you have on hand works here; low-fat is fine.
- Plums – Ripe but firm, pitted and quartered so they bake into jammy little pockets.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt together. Set the mixture aside.
Step 2: Cream butter and sugar. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until pale and fluffy—it should take a few minutes.
Step 3: Add the egg and vanilla. Beat on low speed until evenly combined.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients and milk. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and beat on low speed until smooth.
Step 5: Transfer the batter to the pan. Scrape the batter into a greased springform pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. As you can see, the batter is quite thick.
Step 6: Top with plums. Arrange the sliced plums on top of the batter, skin side up, in a circular pattern so that they cover most of the cake. Then sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the plums.
Step 7: Bake. Bake the cake for 60 to 70 minutes, until golden on top and set in the center.
Step 8: Cool and serve. Once the cake comes out of the oven, run a knife around the edges and release the springform side (leave the base in place). Let it cool completely on a rack, then slice and enjoy.
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Late Summer Plum Cake
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons tablespoons sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk (any kind)
- 1 lb plums, pitted and quartered
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-in (23-cm) springform pan. (Alternatively, the cake may be made in a 9-in/23-cm cake pan or pie pan and served directly from the pan.)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, cream the butter and 1 cup (200 g) of the sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and beat on low speed until smooth. (Note: the batter will be quite thick.)
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Arrange the plums on top, skin side up, in a circular pattern so that they mostly cover the batter. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the plums.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until golden on top and set in the center.
- When the cake is hot out of the oven, run a knife around the edges of the pan and then remove the springform edge, leaving the base in place (if using a springform pan). Let the cake cool on a rack completely. Slice and serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired. The cake keeps well, loosely covered at room temperature, for several days.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Faultless, completely reliable recipe! Count on it to always turn out satisfyingly great, in looks, sweetness, taste, and crumb.
Lovely! The sweet cake combined with the tartness of the plums was an excellent combination and very moist! I added a little bit of chopped apple too and a little extra cinnamon! Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi this cake tasted absolutely lovely. However the plums ended up at the bottom of the cake! Any ideas why?
Hi, Sorry to hear they sunk! Next time I’d cut them into slightly smaller pieces.
Holy moly that cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg combo is tasty.
Perfect recipe! I tried a couple changes after my first attempt and personal preferences including:
– Trading 1/2 a cup of the flour ingredient for a 1/2 cup of almond flour
– Using vanilla almond milk instead of regular milk + vanilla extract ingredients
– Used only 2/3 cup of sugar.
Turned out amazing! This is about to be a regular recipe for me 🙂 Thank you!
Holy moly this was good. I like simple, but I err on the side of elaborate (and almost always with chocolate). However, I had some CSA plums to use up and this was quick enough to pull together before some last minute brunch guests arrived. Wow! It was stunning, if that’s a word you can use for how this tasted. Not overly rich or indulgent but deeply satisfying. Of course, we served it with big dollops of whipped cream. A definite keeper.
Everybody enjoyed this delicious cake. Thanks!
I’ve made this at least 6 times this summer! Easy, tasty, and very popular with friends and family. Somebody even requested it for their birthday cake! The one thing I would say is that (at least for where I live and the oven I use) I knew 70 minutes would be way too long, so I started with 50 and that ended up being perfect. And I added almond extract inspired by another plum recipe I saw and given that it’s popular with my family. Thanks so much for sharing! That tart sweetness of the plums is perfect with the spiced cake but I’m sure I’ll try it with some other fruit as well.
Super easy to make with the surplus of prune plums from our CSA and yummy for breakfast coffee cake. My only note is that I did add the 2 tbsp of sugar on top because my plums aren’t super sweet, but it seemed like a LOT and formed a definite crunchy topping. May leave that off next time or use half.
Oh my goodness!! I always hesitate to sacrifice my favorite pit fruits to baking instead of eating fresh, but this recipe was 100% worth it. Loved the light hint of cardamom and other warm spices, enhancing the sweet jammy plum flavor without overpowering it. Easy, fruity, delicious. We served with ice cream for dessert but it was just as delicious the next late morning with our coffee. Thank you Jenn! We loved this one even more than the strawberry version.
Hi Jen
Can this cake be frozen before baking?
Unfortunately not (but you can freeze it after baking).
Obsessed with this cake! It’s so simple and amazing!