Pflaumenkuchen is a late summer and autumn favourite in Germany and in many other countries. As with apple cake, there are plenty different versions. Four years ago I posted a cake made with yeast dough. That cake was very popular but I also know that not everybody likes to bake with yeast. Plus, the yeast version wasn’t very sweet. Since this might be unfamiliar to some people I decided to make another cake with regular cake batter and more sugar.
This cake has a soft and sweet crumb plus a buttery streusel topping. I used prune or Italian plums (pictured at the bottom of this post), which are the most common variety in Germany. Of course you can use other plums, too.
Pllaumenkuchen
For the cake:
120 g (1 cup) flour
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
125 g (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sugar
120 ml soy milk
60 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
300-400 g (10.6-14.1 oz) plums, pitted and halved
Streusel:
100 g ( 3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons) flour
50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
60 g (1/4 cup) refined, soft coconut oil
To make the cake: Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Grease a 18 x 28 cm (7 x 11 inch) pan with oil. Set aside.
In a bowl combine flours, baking powder, and sugar. Add soy milk and vegetable oil and stir until the batter is mostly smooth. Some lumps are okay. Pour the batter into the pan. Top tightly with halved plums, making sure that the cut sides point upward.
Combine all the ingredients for the topping and knead until the oil is well incorporated. Form crumbs and sprinkle on top of the cake.
Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 160°C (320°F) and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. This cake freezes well.
35 comments
mmm sehr lecker :-) Mein Lieblingskuchen
Thank you so much for this recipe and for your blog! I moved to Dresden from the US last year with my German husband and on top of the typical challenges associated with such a move, I’ve also been making the transition to a vegan diet (probably not smart to wait until moving to Germany, but better late than never and I have more free time now to cook than ever before!). I made this last weekend and it was a total hit with my husband! Next up: käsespätzle!
Thank you for your wonderful comment, Christine! That’s nice to hear.
OK I am about to make this for the third time in 2 weeks. Sooooo many plums!
I recently became vegan and am going to try this, except I am going to use white meat peaches..
I have this in the oven right now. Thanks for including the cups/spoons measurements! It smells fantastic. Thanks also for helping me use some of the plums off my tree!
You’re welcome!
I will be making this ASAP for my Austrian-raised husband….he will be AMPED!
Awesome! Please let me know how it turned out, if you like.
These are gorgeous!! Your recipes are so simple, yet the desserts are so elegant. I am totally gonna bookmark this for later. What other fruits in addition to plum do you think would work well?
Apples and pears come to my mind. Cherries would work, too.
Beautiful! I can’t remember the last time I baked with plums so I am bookmarking this for later use!
I am very partial to plum cake – yeast is fine by me but I will eat it with or without yeast as I love cooked plums in baking
Those deep purple Italian Plums are so delicious! I used to eat them by the bucketful as a kid, along with supersweet Santa Rosas. Thank you for the recipe!
Yes and yum! I’m so glad to see this recipe veganized–and doubly happy that it doesn’t contain margarine/vegan butter! This looks like a good dessert to bring to potlucks this fall.
Dein Kuchen sieht auch sehr lecker aus ;-). Ist ja gerade Zwetschken/Pflaumenzeit (hab gestern kübelweise geernet :))…
Desserts with plums on a cold day = comforting cake heaven. This is just the sort of thing I want to be eating now the cold weather’s kicking in over here. Alright, who am I kidding – this is just the sort of thing I want to be eating every day!
Look at the gorgeous streusel on top!
That looks amazing!! When the holiday season and all of the parties and get-togethers start here, I plan on bringing German desserts everywhere! :-)
It takes some convincing for me to make a cake that isn’t chocolate, but this I will make in a heartbeat! It looks so good, perfect with a cup of tea in the sunshine.
Yes, I will have to try this dough. My son loves these prune plums, He was hoping we would get to pick some, but bought some instead. Brings back happy memories!
Another winner, Mihl! The crumb on this cake looks so good, and I’m not even a cake person.
These are my favorite kind of plums — and for some reason so hard to find around here. If I find some, I’ll make a gf version of your cake. If I can’t find the plums, who knows. maybe I’ll make the cake with a different fruit. :)
…it´s very common to make it with apples, and very nice, too :-)
Ooo, I just picked up a bunch of those prune plums (I think they call them French plums at the farmers market???) with no idea what to do with them. So pretty!
Yowzer, this looks amazing! The plums are great here too at the moment. So juicy and delicious!
So pretty! Plums are just perfect at this time of year.
I’d love to try making a cake with yeast too. I think I’ll check out that version since I prefer my baked goods on the less sweet side.
That looks really good! I’m trying to find recipes using plums that I like, because I don’t like eating plums! So I definitely want to try this!
Gorgeous! I love plums, but have never gotten around to baking with them. This cake is just beautiful.
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