Plum Almond Cake | Imamother

Amarante

Fri, Oct 27 2023, 10:57 am

I had a surfeit of plums and this was a great way to use them up - albeit not as healthy as just eating them. Very easy one bowl cake.

The breadcrumb trick really worked. I have dusted blueberries with flour to help evenly distribute them in other cake recipes.

PLUM-ALMOND CAKE

Excerpt From: Leah Koenig - Modern Jewish Cooking: Recipes & Customs for Today's Kitchen

Plum cake, or pflaumenkuchen, is a lesser-known gem of Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. This naturally dairy-free version is topped with softened plums, sliced almonds, and a snowfall sprinkling of sugar, making it as gorgeous to look at as it is delicious to eat. My friend Avigail, who makes a mean plum cake of her own, taught me the trick of sprinkling a layer of bread crumbs over the batter before arranging the plums on top. The crumbs disappear while the cake bakes, but help keep the plums from sinking into the batter. Pure genius! If you don’t need this cake to be dairy-free, serve with freshly whipped cream or ice cream, or eat it for breakfast with yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup.

SERVES 8

11/4 CUPS/155 G ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
1 TSP BAKING POWDER
1/2 TSP BAKING SODA
1/2 TSP KOSHER SALT
1 CUP/200 G SUGAR, PLUS MORE FOR SPRINKLING
3/4 CUP/180 ML VEGETABLE OIL
1/4 CUP/60 ML FRESH ORANGE JUICE
3 EGGS
1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
1 TSP ALMOND EXTRACT
1/4 CUP/25 G PLAIN BREAD CRUMBS
11/4 LB/570 G PLUMS, HALVED, PITTED, AND CUT INTO EIGHTHS
1/3 CUP/30 G SLICED ALMONDS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and grease a 9-in/23-cm round cake pan or springform pan.

2. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.

3. In a stand mixer or using a handheld electric mixer and a large bowl, beat together the sugar, vegetable oil, and orange juice on medium speed until fully combined and thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla and almond extract, beating to incorporate. Add the flour mixture in two stages, beating on low speed until just incorporated and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a rubber spatula. Scatter the top evenly with the bread crumbs. Arrange the plum pieces on top of the cake in a circular pattern, and sprinkle with the almonds and 2 to 3 Tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet or sour your plums are). Bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then remove from the pan, slice, and serve.

NOTE

Use plums that are just ripe and still a little firm, and stick with sweeter varieties