I Just Can't Quit You.

As much as I try, I can’t tear myself away. I meet others, but they’re just, just not the same. They don’t live up to the (probably) impossibly high standard set previously. That’s why I come back again and again…

I’m not talking about a human love interest here. The obsession I’m talking about is the OG Viennese Plum Cake I’ve been making for over 20 years. It was my late mother-in-law’s recipe that she made every September. After she passed away, I became the keeper/baker of this family treasure. A mantle I was happy to carry. No one is sure where the recipe came from; Freda clipped it from a newspaper oh, so many years ago.

Like I said, I’ve tried others, but they’re missing “something.” Don’t get me wrong, almost any baked good that combines Italian prune plums with cinnamon and sugar, in a yeasty or non-yeast-risen form, will be tasty. But none of them have that, shall we say, je ne sais quoi, that this cake has. I love the deep, dark caramelization of the plums. Maybe it’s that the arrival of these plum babies signal the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Or maybe it’s nostalgia for old-world traditions? Who knows? I could be analyzing it way too much. Maybe it’s just a damn good cake. I’m gonna go with that.

All I know is that I keep returning to it. And I am never disappointed. 

Bakers in Austria and Germany have been making plum cakes (plum kuchen) for years after the fall harvest, and with good reason. It combines the delicious sweetness of these dark little fall-season-only plums with a rich buttery cinnamon-sugary cake, which is the perfect accompaniment to afternoon coffee. I typically shower it with some confectioners’ sugar just before serving. But you could serve it after dinner and gild the lily with a dollop of whipped cream and it would certainly not be frowned upon. Maybe offer your guests a small glass of port with the cake? Who could turn that down? Not me.

While you still have time, get your hands on some sweet Italian prune plums and make this cake. The season is short, make the most of it. I think after your first encounter with this love, you won’t be able to quit it either.

Freda’s Viennese Plum Cake

Ingredients:

For pan:

1 t butter, softened

1 t flour

For cake:

1/2 C butter, room temp

1/2 C granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/4 t salt

1 C AP flour

1 t baking powder

16 medium-sized Italian prune plums, washed, halved, and pitted

For topping:

1/2 C sugar

2 t cinnamon

1 T butter, cut in small pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Butter and flour 8” square pan, and set aside.

Using electric stand or hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed.

In small bowl, blend together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine flour mixture with creamed butter mixture, until well blended.

Spread dough evenly in prepared pan. Place plums, skin side down, on top of dough.

Mix together cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over plums, dot with the butter. Bake 45 minutes or until top is golden.

Let cake cool completely. Serve at room temp. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Fall Plum Pound Cake

It’s that time of year, friends, when the Italian prune plums arrive! They have a very short season so we must make the most of it.

In previous years, I have made one of my very favorite prune plum recipes, but this year I wanted something more like a pound or loaf cake. I found it in this recipe from a New Zealand food site, and it is terrific. 

The original recipe calls for regular black plums, but when prune plums are available, that’s my go-to. It also calls for a sugar icing, but I really don’t think it needs it. I did add a sprinkle of powdered sugar when I served it, just to gussy it up a bit. 

Enjoy!

The coffee's on, come on over!

Plum Pound Cake

Adapted from Claire Aldous, Dish

Ingredients:

10 Italian prune plums

3 TB brown sugar

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground Chinese 5 spice

Cake:

1 C butter at room temp

1 C granulated sugar

1 t vanilla extract

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1-3/4 C AP flour

1/2 t sea salt

1 t baking powder

Directions:

Grease a 9x5, 8C capacity, loaf pan and fully line with parchment paper. 

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Halve and stone the plums and set aside. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and 5 spice in a bowl and set aside.

Cake:

Beat the butter, granulated sugar and vanilla until pale and light. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a TB of the flour if they start to curdle.

Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder and gently mix into the butter mixture. Don’t over beat or the cake will be tough.

Spread half of the batter in the base of the pan, then scatter half of the plums over the batter. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture over the top. Repeat with the remaining batter, plums, sugar.

Bake for about 1 hr and 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover the top loosely with foil if getting too brown. Cool completely before removing from the tin.

To serve: dust with confectioners’ sugar, or drizzle with a glaze made by combining 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar with enough lemon juice to make a smooth, thick but pourable icing.

Makes 1 loaf.

Brown Sugar Plum Cake

Before diving into this wonderful recipe, I must apologize for being AWOL the last month or so. I broke my wrist at the end of August & am still recovering. This accident definitely impeded my writing/typing ability. Even now, I am typing using the old "hunt and peck" method, which takes FOREVER and is a bit painful so this will be short post. 

But one must soldier on so here I am with a fabulous fall recipe for you. Regular Cook's Tour readers will recall that at this time of year, I almost always make my late mother-in-law's plum cake but Italian prune plums are not always available so I thought I'd give you another equally-good option. This recipe uses regular plums, which you can get anywhere. I baked this before breaking my wrist because baking is definitely out of the question for awhile!

Wishing you a healthy and delicious fall season!

Brown Sugar Plum Cake with Sour Cream (adapted from Honest Cooking)

Ingredients:

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter - room temp

1-1/2 C + 2 TB AP flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/2 C packed light brown sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 t vanilla extract

1/4 C sour cream

4 plums, halved, pitted, and cut into eighths

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Grease 9" round cake pan lined with parchment (note: I skipped the parchment and sprinkled a bit of granulated sugar after greasing the pan to add a bit more sweetness and a little crunch.)

3. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy

4. In separate large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt

5. With mixer on low, beat in eggs one at a time until incorporated

6. Beat in vanilla

7. Add in half of flour mixture, then sour cream, followed by rest of the flour. Mix until just combined.

8. Spread batter in pan and smooth top with knife or spatula.

9. Arrange plums on top.

10. Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

11. Dust with Confectioner's sugar before serving.

Plum Squares with Marzipan Crumble

Well, it’s that time of year…late August, which begets fall, which begets winter, my least favorite season (oh, who am I kidding? I hate winter). The only good part of August (IMHO) is the arrival of Italian prune plums. These purple beauties make me smile the first time I spot them in the store every year. 

Most years I make my late mother-in-law’s famous plum cake. Friends and family constantly request “the Freda plum cake,” and it is a definite winner. I have also tried other versions because I firmly believe one can never have too many plum cake recipes.

This year, the first plum cake I’ve made is from Smitten Kitchen. Deb Perelman’s Plum Squares with Marzipan Crumble is an absolute delight. I loved the texture of this cake. With sliced almonds AND marzipan (almond paste) in the crumble, which is used on top of the crust and sprinkled over the juicy plum mixture, you get all these luscious flavors and crunchies converging in every bite.

The recipe also has pan size options - only have a 9x13 pan? You can use it. How about an 8” square? That works, too! Just follow Deb’s directions for baking in different size pans. 

The finished product keeps very well, wrapped in the refrigerator for a week. I’m sure you can freeze them, too, but I didn’t have any leftover to freeze! 

Don’t wait too long - go buy your prune plums today (before they’re gone) and make this cake!

Print here and if you've made this recipe, tag us at our FB page to let us know how it came out.

Happy baking!

Recipe-In-A-Flash: Italian Prune Plum Nut Bread

It seems like the wonderful, seasonal, Italian prune plums have arrived earlier than usual, and I just had to buy some. Can't pass up the first of the season!

I wanted to make something different than my usual, so after scouring the many recipes on-line, I decided on this one from Diana's Desserts. One, because it sounded good, and two, because I had everything in-house.

 It does not specify a type of nut in the recipe; I used walnuts, which were perfect. I'm sure you could use toasted, chopped almonds, or pecans. 

The recipe makes two loaves, although I cut it in half as I only had enough yogurt and plums for one loaf. 

Buy some prune plums and make this cake. Delicious with your morning or afternoon coffee, or dress it up with a bit of whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream) and serve it after dinner. 

Sometimes early is good!

Print recipe.