Plum Cake

You're seven ingredients away from this sweet and tender stone-fruit cake that is incredibly easy to whip up (and has a story to tell). 

Plum Cake
Photo: Heami Lee
Hands On Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs 10 mins
Servings:
12

There is more than meets the eye to this pretty plum cake. It's a delight to bake because it's easy and delicious, but it also comes with a poignant backstory. This plum cake is from the Honey Cake and Latkes cookbook, which is a collection of heirloom recipes from survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II. This simple, autumnal cake comes from survivor Claire Heymann. It's a tribute to resilience, hope, and the power of food traditions.

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray

  • 9 tablespoons salted butter, softened

  • 8 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 ½ pounds plums (preferably red-fleshed), pitted and sliced

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom of a 9-inch springform or 9-by-9-inch pan with cooking spray.

  2. Beat butter with 6 tablespoons sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stir in eggs one at a time. Mix flour with baking powder. Gradually stir it into butter mixture until just combined.

  3. Pour batter into pan, spreading to coat bottom. Arrange plums on top, cut side up. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until top has browned and plums have softened, 45 to 50 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Let cool in pan completely before serving, about 1 hour.

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