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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I want to make this cake in few days. Can we use half butter and half vegetable oil instead of all butter?
Hi Barbara, Vegetable oil won’t work here because you need something solid to cream with the sugar. You can use half butter and half coconut oil if you’d like.
Every morning I go out into the backyard and the squirrels have picked several plums off our tree and taken one or two bites out of each one. Not wanting to waste basically perfect fruit, I cut out the bad parts and made your plum cake. I forgot the sugar on top so sprinkled some on the last few minutes of baking. It came out fine and everyone in my family loved it. The slightly tart plums and the warmley spiced cake are so good together I couldn’t resist eating two pieces before it even cooled. Thanks for the recipe. It is definitely a keeper.
I have been making this recipe but using this seasons strawberries which are so sweet and so brief in their moment of outstanding sweetness. Anyone that has tasted this version has raved about it but my one bit of advice is to not overdo the berries as they tend to sink into the batter. Just be judicious and you will have a delicious cake.
this site is using your recipe photos https://www.restaurantedelux.ro/reteta-zilei-prajitura-cu-prune-si-inghetata.html
Hi Madalina, Thanks for pointing that out!
This was simple to make and delicious ! I served it with vanilla gelato . Will make again . I think you could substitute other fruit easily . I am in Australia and it would be lovely with nectarines or peaches .
Just made this. Amazing!
So soft and the perfect spice.
Hi! Could peaches / any stone fruit be substituted here? Thanks in advance 🙂
Sure, I think they would. I also have this peach cake you may want to consider. Hope you enjoy whatever you make!
I love plums and the flavors in this cake are wonderfully different from most other recipes.
Has anyone tried substituting plums for pears? Or substituting any other fruit?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Hi Gladys, A few other readers have mentioned they’ve used pears successfully. (I’d make sure to use pears that are good for baking like Bosc or Anjou.) Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Gladys, I have made this using fresh peaches when in season and it was delicious. In June I used fresh strawberries and people raved about it. I did make it using fresh pears as well and loved it but for some reason pears don’t seem to excite people they way the stone fruits do.
Wow!!! This is so delicious! I’m thinking of making smaller versions of this cake for people for Christmas. Do you have recommendations of how long to bake it if it was baked in a 4 or 5” springform pan, or in a mini loaf pan? Thanks for such a delicious treat!
So glad you like it! I’d guesstimate that you should start checking 4 or 5-inch versions of this at about 40 minutes and mini loaves at about 35 minutes. These are just estimates so keep a close eye on them!
Can I use frozen plums instead of fresh? Thanks!
Sure, Rebecca, that should work. Enjoy!
How much cardamom do you use? The recipe has a box with an x in it then just says teaspoon. ???
Hi Kim, that’s so strange as I see the amount! I will have my developer look into it. You’ll need 1/8 teaspoon. Hope you enjoy!
Really liked this cake. I had some plums which wouldn’t ripen so poached them
in some sugar/water. Made the cake recipe and knowing I would have too many plums I put a layer of the batter at the bottom of the pan and then a layer of plums, put the rest of the batter on top and circled the rest of the plums on top. The texture of this cake is really moist and spongy and so easy to make. It’s now on my list of favourites. Excellent recipe