Dad’s favourite cake.

I grew up with several plum trees in our back garden. When the plums were in season, dad would bring bucket loads into the kitchen. He would then demand that mum makes him his favourite plum cake. In the last few months before dad passed away, mum dad his favourite cake. That’s why this recipe is nostalgic to me and dear to my heart. I’ll always remember this cake as dad’s favourite.

The way that mum made this cake was more like a slice than a cake by baking it in a baking dish (like one you’d roast a chicken in) so this is how I do it. You can however half both the plums needed and the topping recipe and bake it in a cake tin which means the base is denser making this more of a cake than slice. It’s a personal preference really… as well as how many plums you need to use up!

I always thought this was a Czech recipe but after a little research, I discovered it’s more German by origin. Makes sense since a lot of my family are also from Germany. While we had Nadine and Joel (our workawayers from Germany) stay with us, I thought it would be nice to make this, something reminiscent of their homeland. Not only that, I managed to score a box of dark red fleshed plums from the markets that were ready to eat. They were super juicy and super sweet… delish!

German Plum Cake

This is more of a slice than a cake but is totally delicious. Also known as Pflaumenkuchen. This was my dad's favourite cake and when you make it you'll see why. It's not intoxicatingly sweet and has a wonderful flavour from the yeast and lemon zest in the cake dough. When you make it, I guarantee it won't last long!

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

 

DOUGH

• 225 g flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup milk, divided
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg yolk, large
• 3 tablespoons melted butter, cooled to room temperature
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 lemon, zest grated
• 1.5 kg plums, pitted and halved

TOPPING

• 140 g flour
• 140 g sugar
• 100 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven 180º celsius.
• Butter a large baking dish.
• Add the flour to a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast and half of the milk as well as the 3 tablespoons of sugar. Mix the liquid ingredients with a spatula, incorporating just enough of the flour to make a wet paste. Let sit 15 minutes.
• Stir in the remaining milk, egg yolk, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, salt, and lemon zest, and mix everything together well. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Press the dough into the buttered baking dish making sure there is a slight lip all around the edges. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled.
• While the dough is rising, make the topping. Put the ingredients all together in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Place the plum halves really close together with skin side down all over the dough and within the rim.
• Sprinkle the topping over the top of the plums and in all the gaps (there may be a bit leftover) and let the dough rise a further 20 minutes.
• Bake the cake for approximately 25 minutes, or until both the topping and base are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool before slicing to serve.

Notes

• We always ate this as is but you could serve this with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
• This cake is best served the day it’s made. However it will keep a couple of days, at room temperature.