While it is currently nowhere near plum season around here, digging out the last bags of plums from my freezer yesterday to finally turn into jam and fruit rollups has me dreaming of this plum streusel cake. Come to think of it, I have a few slices of it still wrapped and tucked in the freezer! Oh lucky me, I know exactly what I’ll be eating for kaffeestunde this weekend. 😀
This plum streusel cake (and it’s related apple version) have a long standing place deep in my memories as they, amongst streuselkuchen and cream of wheat pancakes, were the trifecta of goodies that my Oma always, always had on hand when my Mom and I went to visit. Whether she made them fresh or dug them up from the depths of her freezer I could never tell the difference, nor did I especially care, as they were Oma’s specialties.
Kaffeestunde was an everyday occurrence during our visits, the table laden with tea, coffee, cake (almost always plum or apple streusel cake) and a big bowl of lightly sweetened whipping cream to pile on top. Some days, between a smorgasbord breakfast, a mid-morning fruit plate, mittagessen (the main meal), kaffeestunde, supper (the light meal) AND an evening snack I swore she was trying to fatten us up… but then I realized that my Oma’s love language is food. That is something we definitely have in common. 😉
Her original recipe for this plum streusel cake made four, yes FOUR, sheet pans worth of cake (hence all the pieces she had tucked away in her freezer) so it took some testing and tweaking to not only scale down the recipe to one single round cake pan worth but also to get the streusel just the way I remembered it.
So, while I am dreaming of warmer days and our plum tree drooping under the weight of all its fruit again, I will thaw a slice, reminisce on my childhood and perhaps buy a few apples to make the equally delicious apple version again really soon.
Happy baking!
Sophie
If you liked this recipe you are going to love these ones!
German Rhubarb Streusel Cake
Spelt Sreuselkuchen (Oma’s German Crumb Cake)
German Plum Spelt Cake (Pflaumenkuchen mit Mürbeteig)
Plum Streusel Cake (Zwetschgenkuchen)
Ingredients
Cake
- 120 g organic, all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 57 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 108 g full fat sour cream at room temperature
Plum Filling
- 7-8 large purple plums double the amount if using prune plums
- 2 tbsp bread crumbs or finely ground almonds
- ground cinnamon
Streusel Topping
- 100 g organic, all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 38 g granulated sugar
- 38 g dark brown sugar
- 75 g unsalted butter at room temperature
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a 9" round springform pan and set aside.
Make the Streusel
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In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon and salt together. Add the sugars and mix until distributed. Add the butter and mix with your fingers until the streusel start to form large clumps. Place the bowl of streusel in the fridge to chill.
Make the Cake
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In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the beater attachment or in a large bowl with a hand held mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and beat again to combine. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and beat again until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until fully combined.
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Drop dollops of the dough all over the prepared springform pan, then spread evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the dough with bread crumbs or ground almonds.
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Wash, slice each plum in half to remove the pit, then cut each half again so each plum is cut into quarters. Arrange the plum quarters in concentric circles on top of the bread crumbs or almonds, placing the plums as close together as possible. Sprinkle the plums with cinnamon if desired. Remove the streusel from the fridge and re-crumble it with your hands as you sprinkle it evenly over the plums.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and bottom, turning the cake halfway through the baking time to ensure it bakes evenly. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes before sliding a small sharp knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, then remove the springform and allow to cool completely before removing the cake from the bottom of the pan.
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Best served with a gigantic spoonful of lightly sweetened whipped cream!
Recipe Notes
Apple Streusel Cake (Apfelstreuselkuchen) Variation:
- Eliminate the bread crumbs or ground almonds on the dough as apples are not as juicy as plums.
- In place of the plums, thinly slice apples such as granny smith or other apples that hold together when baked. Arrange the slices in overlapping concentric circles or any other pattern you like directly on top of the dough.
- All other steps remain the same.
