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Say hello to my new favorite cake! I have to admit to you that when it comes to dessert in general, my heart belongs to lighter, fruit filled, non-fussy kind of treats. I know what you’re thinking… How boring, right? Where’s the chocolate and candies and sprinkles?! Where’s the friggin’ icing? But jokes aside, this cake beats them all put together. Beats them black and blue.
The base of this beloved cake begins with a super thick ginger and cardamom spiced batter. It’s made of the usual suspects – butter, eggs, sugar, flour – but gets its amazing moisture from one of my favorite baking ingredients: tangy sour cream. There’s also a pop of lemon zest in the mix. Lemon zest wakes everything up! I just love it. Love-it!
The batter then gets topped with ripe and beautiful fresh plum slices. They’re so pretty it hurts just a little bit.
Then – to top it all off – you’ll give your cake batter a hearty shake of sugar, cinnamon, and crystalized ginger. Don’t skip the crystalized ginger. I beg you! It’s so dreamy on this cake. And you’re going to just love the pop of zing (!) it adds to that crunchy lid.
Because the batter of this cake is thick, the baking time is a bit longer than usual – mine was perfectly puffed and golden right around the 90 minute mark. The upside to this is that while it’s baking and making your house smell AMAZING, you’ll have plenty of free time to relax/ clean all those dirty dishes/ finally watch the HIMYM finale/ just sit back with a glass of wine and day dream. Ya know. Whatever floats your boat 🙂
Once the cake is out of the oven, be sure to let it cool in the pan for a bit before transferring to a cooling rack. I let me mine sit in the pan for 20 minutes, then gently ran a knife around the edge of the cake helping any “stuck” bits get free before flipping it onto a large cake plate, and then finally, onto a cooling rack. It was a smooth and perfect transition.
This cake is great served warm or cold! But if you’re going to go for a warm slice, may I make a little suggestion? ICE CREAM! You have to top it with a scoop. I used a homemade buttermilk bourbon ice cream and woo-wee, it was incredible.
P.S. Yes, I’ll be sharing that ice cream recipe with y’all soon 😉 It’s a dream boat!
Have a great weekend, friends! And a P.P.S. I’ll be sharing a few “real meals” over the weekend, so pop on over if you’re looking for a little dinner inspiration. <3
Caramelized Plum Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 large eggs + 2 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 2 large ripe plums, sliced
- 2 tablespoons crystalized ginger, minced
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Ice cream, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line the bottom of a 9" round cake pan with parchment paper, grease the sides of the pan and the parchment paper, then set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add 1 cup of sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla; continue to beat until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in thirds, being sure not to over mix.
- Stir in the sour cream and milk, mixing just until evenly dispersed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Fan plum sliced around the top of the cake.
- In a small bowl combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, crystalized ginger, and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture over the cake.
- Place pan in the oven and bake for 77-90 minutes, or until the top is golden and a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen up any bits that may have stuck. Turn cake out onto a large plate and transfer, plum side up, to a rack to cool.
- Serve warm or cold, with ice cream if desired.
I love simple and satisfying cakes like this, that I can eat for breakfast, a snack, or dessert! 🙂
This is absolutely 100% my kind of cake. So good!
Simply gorgeous cake! It looks so moist and fluffy and those plums look so luscious and caramel-y! So perfect for spring. pinned! 🙂
Mmmm, I love plum desserts! Bookmarked for when we start getting plums from the farmer’s market.
Huge fan of this cake! I’m a huge plum person–especially when they are roasted or caramelized, like this. Brings out so much more flavor. And the candied ginger!! Love, love, love using it. I’ve added it to pies before and it is the BEST.
amazing cake….looks so yum….since plums have hit the markets now…we will be trying this out for the weekend…..looks super tender and delicious,thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I am so looking forward to finding some fabulous plums and making this cake. It is beautiful and dare I say even breakfast appropriate!