AAAAAAAAHHHH. I can’t find any words for this Austrian plum cake. It’s super easy to make and yet the fluffiest, most delicious cake ever. I lack words to describe its genius, you can tell.
Late summer and this cake are tightly linked together, at least for my taste buds. If I have a bite of this juicy, slightly sweet cake, I can almost feel pleasantly warm days and crisp nights. August and September are my favorite months of the year, mainly for that reason.
All the home-grown fruits and vegetables are ripe and ready for harvest, plus the climate is so warm and comfy that everything feels in place. This is the perfect cake to bring to a picnic, a BBQ with friends, or a potluck. It’s the perfect dessert after some treats from the grill.
Which plums for this cake?
The utter most important thing for this traditional Austrian plum cake: Use quality plums that are ripe but not overly soft and juicy yet. You want to use fruits that are more firm than you might select if eating them raw. Usually, those are the easiest to pit and they don’t fall apart into multiple pieces while trying to pit them.
I used damsons (Italian prune plums) from a tree in our garden for this cake.
I used damsons for this recipe – sometimes also referred to as Italian prune plums or Empress Plums – simply for the reason that my parents have a big tree in their garden. They are rather small and usually egg-shaped – and when cooked, they turn an amazing purple-pink color.
The damson tree in our garden is bearing soooooo many fruits.
This year, the tree is bearing so many fruits that we had to support the branches not to snap off. Seriously. I think the tree kind of went overboard.
If you opt for a different kind of plum, make sure not to use too large ones since they will sink to the bottom of the cake. If using a larger kind, quarter them instead of cutting the plums in half.
What you should also know: I kind of made the recipe up. Don’t get me wrong: It tastes exactly like the plum cakes that I used to eat as a kid, but this one is even fluffier.
There was half a cup sour cream hanging in the fridge since who knows how long, so I simply added it. This might be the reason for the extra deliciousness. If you don’t have sour cream on hand, simply add some milk instead.
Recipe for Austrian plum cake
>> Find the detailed recipe (with ingredients and amounts) below.
Spoon batter into baking dish and spread evenly.
Mix all ingredients, then spoon the batter into a baking dish and spread the batter evenly. I used a 8×10 inch (25cmx21cm) baking pan but a regular standard 9-by-12 inch (23×30 cm) pan works well too. The cake might turn out slightly flatter.
Top the batter with plums, skin side down.
Place the halved plums on top, skin side down. You don’t have to push them into the batter as they will sink into the batter while baking.
Bake plum cake until golden in color.
Bake the cake for about 25-30 minutes in the center of the 350 °F (175 °C or 160 °C fan) preheated oven until golden.
Dust cake with confectioners’ sugar.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
This Austrian plum cake super easy to make and yet the fluffiest, most delicious cake ever. I used damsons (also called Italian prune plums or Empress Plums). Use quality plums that are ripe but not overly soft and juicy yet. You want to use fruits that are more firm than you might select if eating them raw. Usually, those are the easiest to pit and they don’t fall apart into multiple pieces while trying to pit them. If you opt for a different kind of plum, make sure not to use too large ones since they will sink to the bottom of the cake. If using a larger kind, quarter them instead of cutting the plums in half.
Recipe: Ursula | lilvienna.com
Ingredients
- About 10-12 small purple Italian plums (damsons), halved and pitted
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cups (150 g) sugar
- 4 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (90 g) sour cream (or about 1/4 cup milk if you don’t have sour cream on hand)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- Pinch cinnamon (optional)
- 1.5 cups (200 g) all-purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- Powdered sugar for dusting
>> All ingredients should be at room temperature. Forgot to remove eggs and butter from the fridge? Place eggs in a bowl with warm tap water for a few minutes. Cut butter into thin slices or small cubes and let them sit for 5 minutes outside in summer or place the bowl with the butter cubes or slices in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Instructions
- Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Set aside until needed.
- In a separate bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar for a few minutes.
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix until thick and pale, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix until well combined.
- Mix all-purpose flour and baking powder and add to the batter. Mix just until combined.
- Fold in the beaten egg whites.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper (or grease it) and spread the batter evenly with a spatula.
- Place the halved plums on top, skin side down. You don’t have to push them into the batter as they will sink into the batter while baking.
- Bake the cake for about 25-30 minutes in the center of the 350 °F (175 °C or 160 °C fan) preheated oven until golden. A wooden toothpick, inserted in the middle should come out clean or with a few crumbs clinging to it.
- Let cool and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Notes
Baking pan: I used a 8x10 inch (25cmx21cm) baking pan but a regular standard 9-by-12 inch (23x30 cm) pan works well too. The cake might turn out slightly flatter.
Did you follow this recipe? You could share your result here. All you need to do is take a picture with your smartphone and send it to [email protected]Jenifer: "Just made this cake. Absolutely delicious! 😋 Another winner! So light and fluffy!"
Monika: "I doubled the ingredients to make a big sheet cake. It tastes delicious!!"
Sabrina: "This is my version of the Easy Plum Cake!"
Jennifer H.: "First go at this: Had the first helping absolutely delicious great recipe 👏"
Mehnaz A.: Austrian plum cake - made in Pakistan.
I didn’t have Italian plums, but took a chance with regular plums and what a cake! Made it this morning to take to the neighbors for dessert this evening, and it was a hit. Everyone loved it, and I’m not surprised. Light, not too sweet and lovely contrast with the plums and the cake. I have more plums and will be making this again!
Highly recommended! Great recipe!
Hi Christina,
This makes me very happy to hear :-))) I love the tartness of the plums in combination with the fluffy cake as well. Thank you so much for trying the recipe!
Update, I just made it again! I had more plums and this time I also had a few strawberries to use, so it was a plum/strawberry version! FABULOUS!
Hi Christina,
I saw the picture on your IG Stories and then totally forgot to comment. It looked sooooooo good. I made it this past weekend for my family with Italian plums and I’ll make it again with raspberries soon – the second harvest is ripe in a bit ;-)
Thanks so much for baking this cake. Makes me so happy :-)
Thank you so much for ALL your wonderful recipes…but especially this one. My Mom used to make this when I was a child…she passed away when I was 17 and I never did have this recipe….so happy to see this as now I can make it for my family ……THANK YOU xo
Hi Chris,
So sorry to hear this :-( I hope it will taste just like the one your mom made for you. Hope you’ll like it as much as I do!
Takes me back to my childhood and my grandmother making this for afternoon tea when we visited at the weekends. Much to her dismay, my brother and I would demolish a tray within minutes!
We have a Victoria plum tree and my wife makes an equally delicious version of the Austrian plum cake, simply mixing a normal sponge mix…cake best eaten while still slightly warm with plenty of icing sugar
So true! I love this cake when it’s still warm from the oven. Plums are just perfect for a cake :-)
I just got my first batch of Italian plums this year and am planning to make this but was wondering if I could substitute a large round springform pan instead. I believe it’s a 10-inch. I only have either an 8-inch square or a 9 X 13 inch pain, neither of which I would want to use. Thanks. My mother used to make a wonderful plum cake and this seems to be the closest.
Hi Margaret,
Yes, you can use an 10-inch round pan as well. The cake will turn out with about the same height, maybe a bit higher (an fluffier ;-)). The 8 inch is too small. Sorry for my late reply. I guess it is too late for your plums by not. Hope you made the cake anyways. Thanks for giving the recipe a try! I love this cake.
Yummyy!!!! I am a big fan of plum cake… I will try this recipe at my home and will share my cakes’ pics with you too…
Hi Damini,
I hope you’ll try the recipe some time. It’s definitely my favorite cake for late summer/fall. Ursula
What a sweet looking and tasty it looks. This is such a nice recipe for plum cake, would definitely try to make one tonight. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!
Hi Peter,
Thanks so much. I love this cake :)
Was looking to make a plum cake and landed just right here. Must say that i am not disappointed. Thanks for the knowledge and keep up the good work.
Happy to hear that! :-)
I am looking to make a plum cake for the desert tonight and this recipe looks just right. Just hope it turns out just as good as yours. Thanks for the instructions.
Hi Kevin,
I hope it turned out well. The fruity element and the soft cake are such a great combination. Ursula
I’m Gonna try this, Just Amazing, Thank you for sharing this delicious plum cake.
Hi there,
Great, I’m sure you won’t regret it :-) Happy baking!
This is the best plum cake racipe. Thanks for sharing.
Hello,
Happy to hear that :) Thanks so much for your feedback, Ursula
Hi. I have kilos and kilos of Italian plums here in Italy so I thought I’d try to make a cake with them. Many times I have seen great American recipes but simply don’t understand your cup measurements. So it was fantastic to see your recipe had the equivalent gram measurements. So I’ve just made your super easy plum cake. An English guy living in Italy using an American recipe for an Austrian plum cake. Fantastic
Hi Ryan,
You made my day lol. So happy to hear that you made the plum cake! Yeah, cup measurments can be tricky. That’s why I try to add cup and gram measurments to my recipes. Thanks for your comment! Ursula
I just made the plum cake. Very nice and soft.only problem is that i needed 50 mins to bake.so my plums were dark alittle burnt. Pl let me know why i took do long to bake. Thanks.
Hi Jessie,
50 mins of baking time sounds a lot! Usually, it takes about 25-30 minutes, 35 minutes maximum for the cake to be ready. Did you check if the cake is done by inserting a wooden skewer? Was there still batter clinging to it after 30 minutes? Either your oven runs very cold (but then all the cooking times would be longer than stated in the recipes) or the cake was done already but not browning properly. I would expect the latter. Do the cakes that you bake get nice and golden? Because this can depend on the oven. For instance, in my mom’s oven, pizza and cakes don’t really brown at all, but they are baked through …. I can’t think of any other explanation. also, the burnt plums would point in this direction. I would pull out the cake as soon as the cake tester comes out clean, brown or pale. Simply dust it with powedered sugar and everything is fine :) I hope this helps in any way,
Best Ursula
Thanks for sharing your recipe. The plum cake making was really easy.
Regards
Chef Bakers
Thanks so much :)
I love this cake – swapped out half a cup of flour for grounds almonds and added more cinnamon
Hi Diny,
The addition of ground almonds sounds delicious! Swapping out a part of the flour for ground nuts/almonds is always a great idea :) Thanks so much for making the recipe and leaving a comment, Ursula
I made this plum cake in my Magimix today for afternoon tea with friends. It’s delicious, made with golden plums and I’ll make it again, however next time I will line the base of the baking tin with baking paper as it was difficult to remove from a buttered tin.
Hi Elizabeth,
So happy that you liked the cake. Golden plums sound like a delicious choice! I‘ve tried making it in a buttered nonstick pan before and had no troubles removing it. But maybe this depends on the pan – thx for letting me know! Ursul
I’m Gonna try this, Just Amazing, Thank you for sharing this delicious plum cake.
Thank you for this recipe – I tried it and it was absolutely delicious. used 90g of milk instead of sour cream and mixed the fruit in rather than just at the top… loved it!
Hi,
So happy to hear that you like the cake :) So far, it has worked perfectly with every fruit I have tried. Hope you’ll make it every once in a while and thanks so much for leaving a comment! Ursula
Thanks for sharing truly mouth-watering plum cake
One of the best plum cake recipe!
Thank you so much :)))