Plum Cake

Hi guys!

Autumn has been on time this year. The last few days, it's been raining cats and dogs and it absolutely does not stop! To me, it's the perfect time to snuggle up on the couch with a cup of tea and your favorite book - well, and a nice piece of cake. Stone fruit season is in full swing and I have been digging through my mum's 20-year-old cooking magazines. I remembered I wanted to try a very special cake with plums that she used to make when I was pretty little. The recipe if from 1992 and the magazine sure looks like it's been put to use regularly. This plum cake is very typical for Germany, as big, rich, fruity cakes are very popular. As often with traditions, they will get lost eventually, so baking cakes like this is not the most usual thing to do these days, but I love to make the effort if I'll end up with a cake as glam and beautiful as this one.

Here's the recipe:

1.5kg (48 oz; 3 lb) plums
350g (12 oz) rusk or zwieback 
100g (1 cup; 3.5 oz) ground almonds
180g (6.3 oz; a little less than 1 cup) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
200g (7 oz; 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
400g (14 oz) crème fraîche
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
6 eggs
1 pinch salt
50g (2 oz) sliced almonds

1) Wash the plums and cut them in half lengthways. Make a cut into each half, ensuring you  leave the pieces attached at one end. Put the rusk in a freezer bag and crush them. This is done easily with a dough roller. Set aside in a little bowl. 

2) Roast the ground almonds in a pan, stirring continuously to make sure they don't burn. Set aside in a bowl. Mix 100g (3.5 oz; 1/2 cup) granulated sugar with the cinnamon and set aside. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan.

3) Grease a 26cm (10 inch) round springform tin with butter. Fill half of the crumbled rusk and  even out with your hand. Sprinkle with half the ground almonds and half of the sugar-cinnamon-mixture. Drizzle evenly with half of the butter.

4) Arrange your half of your plums on top, peel facing down. I like to arrange them in circles, from the outside in, so they look like roof tiles.

5) Repeat with the remaining ingredients: sprinkle the rusk, ground almonds, sugar-cinnamon-mixture and butter on top of the first layer in the same way you did the first time. Following the same pattern as the first layer, arrange the plums on top. 

6) Whisk together the eggs, 50g (1/4 cup; 1.75 oz) sugar, grated lemon zest and crème fraîche. Distribute evenly over the cake. 

7) Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Bake the cake for 1 hour. 30 minutes into the baking time, coat with the sliced almonds. Let the cake cool completely before removing from the tin.
Yield: 12-16 pieces

Active preparation time: 1 hour
Total preparation time: 2 hours

I know this cake is not fast in any way and it does need quite a bit of work, but I promise that it's absolutely worth it. We've turned even the most plum-hating people - like my dad - into plum-lovers with this recipe. The cake is nice and moist and the different textures and ingredients work together wonderfully. This is best served with some whipped cream.

Have fun trying!