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September Summer Fresh Plum and Lemon Curd Cake

September 15, 2022 by Joy the Baker 16 Comments

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Slice of fresh plum cake on small plate with fork

I’ve been saving this plum cake recipe for just the right time.  I put my finger up to the breeze this morning and we’re here – we’ve reached peak In Between.

In Between is that time between summer and fall when I, for one, am changing out my scented candles from fresh and floral and pie and spice. This is when we as a people wrestle with our love of pumpkin spice everything. The reality is that it’s still a thick 90 degrees this week never nenveryoumind about the actual temperature. The calendar say’s it’s time to bake and so we will.

The official dessert of the In Between is this tender pound cake baked with the last of summer’s plums and swirled with tart lemon curd. It is the perfect snacking cake but also impressive enough to flex at a dinner party.  Speaking of – it’s totally dinner party season, isn’t it?

Let’s get together! Over cake, of course.

Ingredients for plum cake recipe in small bowls.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this fresh plum cake recipe:

•  all-purpose flour

•  baking soda and baking powder

•  ground coriander (or cinnamon or fresh nutmeg if you don’t have coriander)

•  kosher salt

•  unsalted butter

•  granulated sugar

•  2 large eggs

•  vanilla extract

•  sour cream

•  ripe purple plums though a case can be made for fresh apricots or fresh peaches, quartered

•  store-bought lemon curd (or lemon juice and lemon zest in a pinch)

•  lightly sweetened soft whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for topping

Dry ingredients for plum cake recipe
Eggs added to cake batter in medium bowl.


We’ll start by whisking together the flour mixture. I know this feels like an extra step and *shrug*, do we really have to? Well, no – but sifting together the dry ingredients is a good idea because it evenly combines the leavening, spice, and salt with the flour before they’re added to the wet ingredients.  The more evenly combined the more evenly our cake will bake.  Baking is just a series of good ideas starting here.

We add coriander to this recipe much like the Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins I made a few weeks back in the deep heat of summer.  Coriander adds such a bright warmth to cakes with fruit. It’s brighter and less expected than cinnamon or nutmeg though either of the two will do in a pinch.

In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer (this is my favorite), cream together room temperature  butter with sugar until pale and fluffy.  We’re incorporating ingredients, yes – but we’re also aerating the fat in this cake to encourage a light and tender crumb.

Beat the eggs in, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition.  More air. Fluffier cake.

Sour cream added to fresh plum cake batter.

The star of this cake crumb – the secret weapon, the hero: SOUR CREAM.

Sour cream (or full fat yogurt) makes for the most tender cake with a light tang on the palette.  While most layer cakes call for either whole milk or buttermilk, sour cream will make a pound-style cake tender with a bit of gravitas.

Thick plum cake recipe cake batter.

The batter will be fluffy and thick – nowhere near pourable that’s right!

The batter is lightly scented with coriander which will highlight the plum and lemon curd but if you don’t have lemon curd on hand, you can add lemon zest and a few tablespoons of lemon juice to the cake batter to add a hit of that lovely lemon flavor.

Fresh plums inside cake batter in pan.

What’s a plum cake recipe without a few late summer plums? I love yellow-fleshed plums with deep purple skin though Italian prune plums are also lovely (and smaller so you’ll have more plum per cake slice).  Whatever fresh plums you choose, allow the plums to ripen, slice in half, twist and remove the pit.

Full disclosure: I’ve been impatient and made this cake with barely ripe, mostly very firm plums and the bake time is enough to soften a stone-like stone fruit.

Of all your cake pans, I recommend using a springform pan for this cake.  The removable sides keep us from having to invert the cake to remove it from the pan.  If you don’t have a springform in your collection, a tall-sided 9-inch cake pan will do ya just fine.

Grease the cake pan, spread half of the cake batter across the bottom of the pan and arrange the pitted plums, cut side down in a circular pattern.

Plum cake recipe in baking pan swirled with lemon curd.
Baked plum cake on floral plate.


Spread the remaining batter over the plums – an offset spatula is great for this task.  I like to leave a little plum skin peeking through.  Dollop the top of the cake generously with lemon curd (so good, it’s so good!) and swirl into the cake batter.

With a little time in the oven, the lemon curd will bake to a golden chewy texture.  It’s magic.  This cake is a long bake so settle in.  It will bake for nearly an hour. I rotate the cake pan to brown all sides about halfway through baking.

Slice of fresh plum cake on small plate with fork

The cake is baked when the top is deeply golden, the cake is risen, and maybe the edges are bubbling.  A cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.  It may be a little challenging to find the cooked crumb amidst the plums and curd but keep a keen eye around the 55 to 60 minute mark.

Allow the cake to cook for an hour, it really does need to settle to slice cleanly.  Use a straight sharp knife, a serrated knife will tear the crumb needlessly.

I love this cake served with a dollop of whipped cream or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream but a cup of black coffee is also a great choice.

Instructions follow and feel free to leave your baking questions or comments below! You can also connect with me on Facebook and Pinterest! I’m baking everywhere.

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Baked plum cake recipe with slice taken out.

September Summer Fresh Plum and Lemon Curd Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 10 reviews
  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 55 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Yield: 1 9-inch cake 1x
  • Category: dessert, holiday
  • Method: baking
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Description

A tender pound cake with sweet soft plums and swirls of jammy lemon curd.  A perfect between season cake bake.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 5–6 small to medium firm but ripe purple plumes, halved and pitted
  • About 1/2 cup store-bought lemon curd
  • Lightly sweetened soft whipped cream for serving

Instructions

  1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round  baking pan (or springform pan), line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper and grease the parchment paper as well. Lightly flour the pan and knock any extra flour from the pan.
  2. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, coriander if using, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl with electric hand beaters or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute per egg. Beat in the vanilla extract.
  4. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is mixed in well. Beat in the sour cream on medium speed.
  5. Turn the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stop the mixer and finish incorporating the batter until well combined. The batter will be thick.
  6. Spread half of the cake batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. An offset spatula is a great tool to spread the batter. Arrange 10 to 12 plum halves, cut side down, on top of the batter. Spread the remaining batter over the plums and use the offset spatula to spread into an even layer. Dollop with big globs of lemon curd and swirl just slightly.
  7. Bake until deeply golden and the sides of the cake are pulling away from the pan. A toothpick inserted in the cake will come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. This is a long bake cake at 50-55 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. Remove cake from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before trying to invert the cake.
  8. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake from the pan. Place a flat plate over the pan and invert the cake. Peel the parchment round off the cake and gently invert the cake top side up.
  9. Serve warm or at room temperature with lightly sweetened cream and black coffee or tea. Cake lasts, wrapped in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

Keywords: plum, cake, lemon curd, lemon, pound cake, sour cream, fall cake, holiday cake

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Questions
  1. OddConfection

    November 10, 2022 at 10:39 pm

    I’ve developed a tradition of making myself a different cake every year for my birthday. This recipe dropped just in time for me to try it out for this year’s birthday cake. I made it that night.
    …and my parents devoured it in less than 2 days.
    I’ve had to make it 3 more times since.
    Mysterious bags of plums keep appearing when I’m here (thanks Dad). Mom keeps casually asking when I’ll be coming to visit.
    I made another cake this evening, and it’s already 2/3 gone. Dad told me to just start making two at a time from now on. I think they’ll start resorting to sabotage and/or kidnapping soon. Please send help.

    (Also, trying to find a way to turn this into cupcakes. The plums are obviously a sticking point, because they need time to cook down and realize their gloriously jammy potential, and I don’t think that’ll happen on a cupcake timeframe. I’m thinking maybe a plum filling of some sort?)

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. AmbalaCakes

    October 22, 2022 at 4:34 am

    Very nice recipe

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Raluca

    September 28, 2022 at 6:05 am

    Tried this with actual autumn plums (the blue ones), gingerbread spice and lemon zest instead of the curd (thanks for suggesting that). Is absolutely wonderful and has a great consistency. Thanks a million!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. Tara

    September 24, 2022 at 8:07 am

    I am so bummed. I just made this – even made homemade lemon curd the other day because my store was out of stock. As I’m putting everything in the pan I can’t believe how little batter there is but I keep going. I somehow failed to remember to add the sour cream in (which was in a bowl on the side). The cake is in the oven – without sour cream – and we’re just gonna roll with it because…it was too late. I’ll have to try again…maybe with the nectarines in my bowl.

    Reply
    • Tara

      September 24, 2022 at 9:18 am

      So…no sourcream but it was still delish!!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
  5. Kate

    September 21, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    Made this today (last day of summer) and can’t wait to have a piece (it’s currently cooling). Plums are hard to get this time of year where I live – do you think I could sub apple slices and cinnamon for a more “fall” cake?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Shelby

    September 20, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    This was really good. I didn’t have quite ripe plums, but it was my first time cooking with plums, and I didn’t quite know how to judge it. The fruit stayed fairly whole (less jammy), but served warm, it was still tasty. I think the lemon curd gets lost in the flavors, so I will probably increase the amount of lemon curd next time. I also found that my oven didn’t require as much cook time. I loved the cake flavor though. I’m not a big cake fan, so this batter that edges into pastry territory was just perfect with the fruit flavors. I also chose not to use coriander or another spcie.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lola

      October 2, 2022 at 3:42 am

      I had the same experience with the bake time. In my oven the cake was done after 45 minutes with the edges of the lemon curd swirls turning quite dark.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
  7. Sharon

    September 19, 2022 at 10:49 pm

    Does this plum cake freeze as well as the NYTimes version? I’m blessed with a plum tree so I try to bake them up and stock my freezer for the winter

    Reply
  8. Conria

    September 18, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    Joy! You’ve done it again!! I subbed the coriander for cardamom and it was everything. The plums cooked down to be nice and jammy, and the lemon curd was the perfect compliment.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Joy the Baker

      September 19, 2022 at 7:15 am

      Oh that sounds fantastic!

      Reply
  9. Sabrina

    September 16, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    great, plums are nice, don’t think I’ve had a plum cake but have always loved plums so, I’m in on that alone, but even more so with lemon curd, love lemon everything, so thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Freya

    September 16, 2022 at 5:20 am

    Hi! Do you think this one will work with a gluten free flour…?!

    Reply
    • Linda

      September 18, 2022 at 9:00 pm

      I made this cake this morning with Bobs Red Mill 1-1 and it was amazing. Truly the best plum cake I have ever had!

      Reply
    • Jen

      September 21, 2022 at 7:40 am

      Yes! I used Trader Joe’s 1:1 gluten-free flour and the cake was delicious.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
  11. Gail

    September 16, 2022 at 4:51 am

    Hi Joy,
    In your ingredient list, you have written 10-12 plums. However, you are only using 10-12 halves in the batter. Might there be an error and you mean 5-6 whole plums?
    Thanks.

    Reply

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