Juicy Plum Cake

Method

1. First, wash and dry approximately 1 kg of plums and remove the pits. My plums are quite large, so I cut them into quarters. If you have smaller plums, you can simply cut them in half. Set the plums aside for now and prepare the easy butter cake batter. Place 190 g of room-temperature butter into a bowl. Add 150 g of powdered sugar and 1½ teaspoons of vanilla extract.
   ▶ watch in the video (0:30)
2. If you don’t have vanilla extract, you can use vanilla sugar instead. Start beating everything together. Beat the butter and sugar until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. . Once the butter and sugar are well beaten, gradually start adding the eggs. We’ll use three medium-sized eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one thoroughly into the butter mixture.
   ▶ watch in the video (1:18)
3. When they are incorporated gradually, we get a thick, smooth and fluffy mixture. The base of the cake is ready, so now we can prepare the dry ingredients. Add ¼ teaspoon of salt and 1½ teaspoons of baking powder to 260 g of all-purpose flour. Mix everything well together. We’ll add the flour to the butter mixture in three batches. After each batch, add one tablespoon of lukewarm milk.
   ▶ watch in the video (1:53)

4. Three tablespoons of milk in total

   some flour, one tablespoon of milk, then more flour, another tablespoon of milk, and finally the remaining flour and the last tablespoon of milk. Mix everything thoroughly after each addition. The batter will be quite thick, which is perfectly fine for this recipe. Prepare a 28 x 28 cm baking pan and line it with parchment paper. If you have a pan that is safe for cutting in, you can simply grease and flour it.
   ▶ watch in the video (2:40)
5. Transfer the batter to the pan and spread it evenly over the entire surface. And now it’s time for the plums. Place them cut-side down. Since the batter is quite thick, place the plums very close together. plenty of fruit, so every piece of cake has a generous amount of juicy plums.
   ▶ watch in the video (3:30)
6. But when you arrange them close together, they soften beautifully during baking, release their juices, and some of that juice soaks into the batter. That’s exactly what makes the cake wonderfully moist and fragrant. The plums are all in place, so let’s prepare the crumble topping. Place 110 g of coarse flour into a bowl. Add 75 g of powdered sugar. Add 1½ teaspoons of vanilla sugar and a pinch of salt.
   ▶ watch in the video (4:13)
7. Mix everything together. Add 75 g of slightly chilled butter to the dry ingredients. The butter shouldn’t be too soft, otherwise the crumble will start sticking together too much. We need it to remain crumbly. Gradually work the butter into the flour and sugar so that all the ingredients come together, but small, irregular pieces and crumbs remain.
   ▶ watch in the video (4:49)
8. These will bake beautifully and create a crispy crumble on top of the cake. You may be wondering why I used coarse flour instead of all-purpose flour. Coarse flour absorbs more liquid than all-purpose flour and can absorb excess juice better, which the plums release during baking. With such juicy fruit, this is a great advantage.
   ▶ watch in the video (5:24)
9. All-purpose flour has this property to a lesser extent, so in my opinion it works better for crumble with less juicy fruit. Spread the crumbled topping evenly over the entire surface. Once baked, it will create that beautiful crunchy layer on top of the cake. And now we can put the cake in the oven. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Bake the cake at this temperature for approximately 45 to 50 minutes.
   ▶ watch in the video (5:53)
10. Of course, use the baking time as a guideline, as every oven bakes a little differently. So keep an eye on the cake towards the end of baking. A well-baked cake should be slightly golden on top and golden-brown around the edges. While it’s baking, the kitchen will fill with the wonderful aroma of butter, vanilla and baked plums. And I think that wonderful aroma is one of the things that simply belongs to home baking.
    ▶ watch in the video (6:33)
11. Once you take the cake out of the oven, let it cool down. It will be easy to cut. Remove the parchment paper and cut the cake into smaller pieces. It works wonderfully with apricots, for example, but you can also use peaches or other fruit that you happen to have at home and that is suitable for baking. As you can see, the cake has baked beautifully, both on top and underneath.
    ▶ watch in the video (7:05)
12. The cake is soft and moist, the plums are beautifully juicy, and the buttery crumble is slightly crispy. This cake is also delicious on the second or third day, as it stays beautifully moist. And if you try it, I’d love it if you let me know in the comments how you liked it, or perhaps what ingredient you used to make the flavor even better.
    ▶ watch in the video (7:41)
13. If you enjoyed the recipe, I’d appreciate every thumbs-up or comment, even if it’s just a smiley. and I hope everything you bake always turns out beautifully. Take care and see you in the next recipe.
    ▶ watch in the video (8:08)