Italian Plum Cake
Plums are delicious in desserts! Italian Plum Cake can be a breakfast cake, a tea cake, or a dessert with a bit of whole whipped cream. First published in the New York Times by food columnist Marian Burros in 1983, the recipe had been given to her by Lois Levine, who co-authored the cookbook Elegant but Easy The recipe was published every year during plum season between then and 1995. The changes I've made is to use a gluten-free flour blend and organic cane sugar or coconut palm sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, or gluten-free 1:1 flour blend 125 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder 5 grams
- large pinch of salt
- 1 cup organic cane sugar (plus 1-2 Tablespoons extra for the topping) or coconut palm sugar 200 grams
- ½ cup butter, softened 115 grams or 8 Tablespoons
- 2 large eggs
- 12 small Italian plums halved and pitted
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 10 ml
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9-inch round baking dish by buttering it.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and 1 cup of sugar together until fluffy and light in color. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients, mixing until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top. Arrange the plums, skin side up, over the top of the batter. Sprinkle the top with lemon juice, then cinnamon, then 1-2 Tablespoons of sugar depending on how sweet the plums are.
- Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out free of batter, about 45-60 minutes. If it is getting too brown, but is still not set in the middle, place a piece of foil on top without tightening it down around the baking dish.
- Cool on a rack. When it is at least at room temperature, (or even the next day when the juices are all soaked back into the batter!), cut into wedges and enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!