Happy Wednesday, friends! I can't believe we're already halfway through the week! Ya know what they say... time flies when you're busy. Or when you're having fun, whatevs. Same difference. We are reaching the tail end of plum season, and I'm honestly so sad that I discovered this recipe just when they're about to be gone! I found this cake on the always-fabulous Smitten Kitchen, and it's pretty much my new favorite thing. I should've known Deb would never lead me astray! Cake batter, meet plums. Cake, meet... my mouth. Hello, delicious.
Although I found the recipe on Deb's blog, this is actually a recipe that has been passed around since the 80s, and was first found in the New York Times. If you want the full story, you can check out her blog post! After tasting this cake, I totally understand why it's been around for so long that it's become a classic. Since I can never leave well enough alone, I decided to slice the plums on top of the cake instead of leaving them in halves, but I followed the recipe besides that! It's so simple and incredibly delicious. The batter is just an easy-peasy vanilla cake, but the real magic comes from the fruit on top, and the generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar that goes on top of it.
I think it's so curious that the fruits I love most {like peaches, plums, and berries} don't have as many recipes on here as, say, apples or pears or something. Not that I don't also enjoy fresh apples and pears and all that, but maybe I'm just too busy shoving fresh fruit in my face to bother cooking with it? Who knows. This is the first plum recipe on the blog, and my only peach recipes are these {amazing} peach cinnamon rolls and strawberry peach cobbler I made over the summer. I don't know, the fruit just doesn't taste the same when it's cooked, you know? But I digress. This cake was definitely worth sacrificing some fresh plums for.
I apologize for the sincere lack of what I call lazy cakes lately on the blog. You want a cheesecake? I got you. Want a multi-layered, sprinkle-covered monstrosity? Haaa, I totally got you there. But I haven't shared any easy, one-bowl, everyday cakes in quite awhile! I shared this Sangria Cake back in May, but before that, you have to dig waaaay back in the archives to find my vegan chocolate bundt cake {vegan! one-bowl! so fudgy!} and then who knows before that. I actually love simple cakes like this, but well, we can't be eating cake every day just for the blogging factor, can we? {yes, we can, actually. and we will}.
{cake recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen}
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 4-5 plums
- cinnamon and sugar for topping, as needed
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the vanilla.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat until combined.
- Butter and flour a 9-inch springform cake pan, and pour in the batter.
- Thinly slice your plums, and arrange them on top of the cake. Squeeze the lemon juice on top, then sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar on top of the plums.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until cake is fluffy and golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean {disregarding the plum juice}. Let cool slightly and enjoy!
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel says
How pretty is this little cake!! I love how rustic it is. And plums!! Yum! Gotta get them while they are in season and delicious! 🙂