Plum cake is a great way to enjoy the bounty of plums available this time of year. This simple cake recipe uses a spring form cake pan, which makes it easy to remove the cake from the pan once it has cooled. As most of the ingredients in this recipe should be items you already have in your pantry, make sure you use your budget for this recipe on getting the best plums you can find.
If you live in Norway, this recipe offers a great opportunity to use plums from Hardanger if you can find them. Hardanger produces in excess of 40% of the nation’s fruit production with plums, pear, cherries, red currants and apples making up most of the production. Read more about Hardanger’s gastronomic culture, from the Kvam Turistinformasjon web site.
- 6 eggs
- 240g (1/2 cup) butter, softened
- 200g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- 240g (1 cup) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6-8 fresh plums, sliced and pitted
- Preheat oven to 190 C/375F.
- Grease and flour one 23cm spring form cake pan and set aside.
- Separate the eggs. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar together until pale in color. Beat in the egg yolks and the lemon zest.
- Stir together the flour and baking powder.
- Next, mix the flour mixture into the creamed butter mixture until well incorporated (but do not over mix).
- Gently fold in the egg whites. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared cake pan. The amount of batter will seem small, but don’t worry – the whipped egg whites will help it puff up when it bakes, giving you that lovely look of plums set in sponge cake. Arrange the plums, skin side down, nicely over the batter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until cake tests done using the toothpick method. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.

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