Late Summer Plum Cake
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Gently spiced, this jammy plum cake celebrates the summer-into-fall season. Serve it as a brunch cake or for dessert topped with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
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 plums turn into rich, jammy pockets as they bake, 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, or topped with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
What you’ll need to make Plum Cake
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by whisking the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt together in a large bowl.
Next, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and beat on low speed until smooth.
Transfer the batter to a greased Springform pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Note that the batter is quite thick.
Arrange the plums on top, skin side up, in a circular pattern so that they cover most of 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 (leave the base in place). Let the cake cool on a rack completely.
Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
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- Fresh Peach Cake with Pecan Streusel
- Summer Strawberry Cake
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- Plum Galette
Late Summer Plum Cake
Gently spiced, this jammy plum cake celebrates the summer-into-fall season. Serve it as a brunch cake or for dessert topped with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
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
- 8 tablespoons (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk (low-fat is fine)
- 1 pound plums, pitted and quartered
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. (Alternatively, the cake may be made in a 9-inch 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 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.
- Note: This cake keeps well, loosely covered at room temperature, for several days.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, double-wrap it securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place it in heavy-duty freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 344
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 54g
- Sugar: 35g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 4g
- Sodium: 231mg
- Cholesterol: 55mg
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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Amazing cake – but I felt as if I did something wrong? 175 deg (metric) in the middle shelf. But the cake was done after 35 min, not 60 minutes?! But delicious nonetheless 🙂
Or is it because I used damsons and not your normal plums? And damsons tend to be drier…
While they might lead to a slightly drier cake, I don’t think it would cause it to bake so much faster.
Loved the cake! I am going to slice and freeze several plums so I can make this cake again at a later date.
Question- should I defrost plum before making cake or can I bake the cake with the frozen plum slices? Thank you!!
So glad you like it! I think you can add the plums while they’re still frozen.
So strange, but glad you kept a close eye on it so it didn’t overbake! Also, you may want to check your oven temp to see if it’s accurate. Here are some tips on how to do it.
Made this tonight for the first time – family raved about it. I didn’t add the sugar on top of the cake – instead I dusted it with confectioners sugar after it had cooled. It was still a bit sweet for me and will cut the sugar by a third next time I make it. As usual, a foolproof recipe from @onceuponachef. Thanks!
We have a plum tree that produces tons of small plums which makes dicing them a time consuming process, but worth it. Last year I tried your plum galette which was wonderful, but I think I’ll use this year’s bounty for this cake! I used 4/7/9″ springfoam pans after doubling the recipe and now have a perfect variety to freeze and pull out depending on my number of guests. The cake was delicious!
This is, hands down, the BEST cake I have EVER baked. I’m normally a chocolate lover and have never really been into desserts where fruit is the main focus, while my partner is a big pie lover. This cake is truly the best of both worlds: cake + pie! He said to me as we were finishing it off, “I want this for my birthday next year.” (And I do, too!) I’ve been raving about this recipe to anyone who will listen since I baked it a few days ago. Thank you SO MUCH for another A+++++++ recipe!!!
One question for you: do you think you could sub blackberries in for the plums? I have a friend who doesn’t love plums but loves blackberries and was wondering about using those instead.
Glad it was such a hit! I haven’t tried this with blackberries (and there’s always a bit of trial and error when swapping fruit due to the level of sweetness and amount of juice different fruits produce), but I suspect it should work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
This cake is delicious & is a keeper. We loved it.
This was SOOOOO good! My family loved it! I am so glad I found your site!
Made it this late summer with Methley plums. It is a keeper. The aroma of combination spices! Why not call it ‘Late Summer Plum Buckle’.
This was amazing. Just the right amount of sweetness and spices. Such a lovely cake for the end of summer and super easy too. I will definitely make this again.
Really good. Even when you screw up a bit! I’m anxious to try it exactly as written, which is what I thought I was doing. I was ready to put the batter in the pan and I read the note “Batter will be very thick.” I thought “hmmm. This batter isn’t that thick.” Then I got a sinking feeling. Rereading the directions, I realized that I accidentally put in 1 cup of milk instead of 1/2 cup.
Baked it anyway thinking “well maybe it will be like a pudding cake”. Came out delicious. A friends comment was “whatever you did wrong, you should do it again because this is great.”
So, I’m sure it’s great as written but it’s such a good recipe that it is forgiving if you screw up a bit.
OMG..made this plum cake last weekend and it was terrific. Followed the recipe except cut the plums into 8’s as another reviewer did. My husband (who prefers cake with icing) had a 2nd piece and also shared with friends who now are following you. I have your book and have made many of the recipes to rave reviews! Love following you, Thank you.