Italian Plum Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.
• Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the plums.
• Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.
• Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a sheet pan. Place the plums, tapioca, creme de cassis, and 3/4 cup of the sugar in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Allow to sit for 15 minutes. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until it forms small, dry crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of cold water and continue to beat for about 30 seconds, until the mixture forms large, moist crumbs. Set aside 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture and pour the rest into the springform pan. With floured hands, lightly pat the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan and 1 inch up the sides. Arrange the plums in concentric circles on the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly on top. Bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden. Cool for 15 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a nine-inch springform cake pan.
• Toss the plums into a bowl with the Amaretto cookie crumbs and one-fourth cup of the sugar and set aside.
• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Cream the butter and remaining sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the ground almonds and almond extract until just incorporated into the batter. Fold in the flour mixture. Spread the batter in the pan.
• Arrange the plums on top of the batter. Bake 40 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before removing the cake from the pan.
• If desired, whipped cream or ice cream can be served on the side.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch springform pans.
• Cream butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt; beat well to combine. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Sift flour and baking powder together into a bowl. Mix into the batter in batches, alternating with milk; the batter will be quite thick. Spoon batter into the prepared pans. Place plums close together, cut-side down, over the batter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto serving plates or cooling racks. Dust with confectioners' sugar and let cool completely.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well.
• Spoon the batter into a springform pan of 8, 9 or 10 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon juice, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, depending on how much you like cinnamon.
• Bake 1 hour, approximately. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and serve plain or with whipped cream. (To serve a torte that was frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine flour and baking powder; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Add lemon zest. Pour into a greased 10-in. springform pan. Arrange plums on top; gently press into batter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. , Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes or until top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan; remove sides. Cool on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-by-2-inch or a 9-inch cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated; beat in vanilla and lemon zest. Beat in half the flour mixture, then sour cream. Add remaining flour mixture; mix just until combined.
• Spread batter into pan and smooth top with a knife. In a bowl, toss plums with 2 tablespoons flour and sprinkle over batter.
• Bake until cake is golden, about 30 minutes; loosely tent with foil and bake until cake pulls away from side of pan and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes more. Let cake cool completely in pan. Run knife around cake edge and remove cake from pan. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9-inch tube pan.
• Separate the eggs. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, and set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg yolks and the lemon zest.
• Stir together the flour and baking powder and then blend the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Gently fold in the egg whites. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. There will only be a little over an inch of batter. Arrange the plums, skin side down, attractively over the batter.
• Bake in preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool before serving.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, add the sugar, vanilla, egg, lemon peel, sour cream and salt (if desired).
• Mix the flour and baking powder and add that into the mixture.
• Grease the base of a round baking pan and spread the dough over the pan.
• Liberally spread plums over the dough.
• To make the optional topping, cream the butter, add flour, sugar and cinnamon.
• Sprinkle over the plums and bake for 30-45 minutes in the middle rack at 375 F.
• Be careful not to let the bottom burn!
• Serve with lots of freshly-made whipped cream.
• If you like, you may also sprinkle rum or cinnamon over the fruit before baking.

Steps:

• To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan with butter.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each. Mix in the zest and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan.
• Place half of the cut plums on the batter, cut-side up. Spread the remaining batter over the plums. Spread the batter into an even layer and top with remaining plums.
• To make the topping: In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and melted butter. You may have to mix it with your hands to get all the butter incorporated.
• Spread the crumb topping over the plums evenly.
• Place the cake on two stacked cookie sheets, to prevent the bottom from getting too brown during the long baking time. Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a tester come out clean. Cool on a rack.
• Serve it slightly warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie pan. Use a fork to beat the egg with 1/4 cup water in a small bowl until combined.
• Put the flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is uniform. Drop in the butter cubes, toss with a fork to coat in the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and moist, about 8 long pulses. Add half of the egg mixture and process about 15 seconds. Add the remaining egg mixture and process an additional 15 seconds. The batter should be homogenous but not too thick. (Don't worry if it curdles a bit because of the brown sugar. It won't affect the batter.)
• Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Very lightly press the plums into the batter. Bake until the plums are tender and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

Steps:

• To make the crust, pulse the flour, sugar, salt, and butter or margarine together in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade until crumbled. Then add the egg yolk, and pulse until the dough comes together.
• Put the dough in the center of an ungreased 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Dust your fingers with flour, and gently press out the dough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and bake the crust for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 375 degrees, and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven, and let cool slightly. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Mix the jam with the brandy in a small bowl, and spread over the bottom of the crust. Pit the plums, and cut them into four pieces each. Starting at the outside, arrange the plums in a circle so that all the pieces overlap, creating concentric circles that wind into the center of the pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and lemon zest.
• Return the tart to the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the plums are juicy. Remove the tart from the oven, sprinkle on the sugar, and serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease Two 8-inch Round Pans with Butter.
• Choose plums that are more blue in color than red, and are soft but not mushy. Cut the plums in half lengthwise, along the 'seam', removing the stone. If there's any fiber or remnants of a stem, trim the tip of the stem end with a paring knife. Set plum halves aside.
• Mix two teaspoons of cinnamon with the half-cup of sugar and set aside.
• In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
• Add eggs, mixing until well blended.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add half of the flour mixture into the creamed butter, stirring just until smooth; then add the remaining dry ingredients, again being careful not to over-mix. Batter will be stiff.
• Divide batter evenly into greased cake pans, spreading to fill pan to the sides.
• Press plum halves into the top of the batter, cut side up, arranging them in tight rows. You should see very little cake batter. My mother always said ".
• load 'em up!".
• Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly and generously over the top of each cake.
• Bake in 350-degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• While my mother would pooh-pooh it, you can serve with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F; generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.
• Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the plums.
• Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time.
• Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.
• Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
• Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate.
• If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake.
• Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Cook jam and brandy in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until reduced to thick syrup, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and place plums cut-side down in syrup. Return skillet to medium heat and cook until plums shed their juices and thick syrup is again formed, about 5 minutes, shaking pan to prevent plums from sticking. Cool plums in pan, about 20 minutes.
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F Grease and flour 9-inch springform pan. Process sugar and almonds in food processor until nuts are finely ground, about 1 minute. Add flour, baking powder, and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse sand, about ten 1-second pulses. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and process until smooth, about 5 seconds, scraping bowl once if needed (batter will be very thick and heavy).
• Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Stir plums to coat with syrup. Arrange plum halves, skin-side down, evenly over surface of batter. Bake until cake is golden brown and wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 40 to 50 minutes. Run paring knife around sides of cake to loosen. Cool in pan on wire rack until just warm or to room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan and dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into wedges and serve.
• Note:This recipe works best with Italian plums, which are also called prune plums. If substituting regular red or black plums, use an equal weight of plums, cut them into eighths, and stir them a few times while cooking. Arrange slices, slightly overlapped, in two rings over surface of cake. Do not use canned Italian plums. Blanched whole almonds can be used but must be processed 30 seconds longer until finely ground. The brandy can be omitted, but then you will need to melt the jam with 1 tablespoon water before adding the plums. Don't add the leftover plum cooking liquid to the cake before baking; reserve it and serve with the finished cake or over ice cream. The cake can be served with lightly sweetened whipped cream.