marzipan plum cake

marzipan plum cake

• 21 Feb 2022

As it's plum season here in Sydney I made my annual plum cake. You, dear readers, really seem to like plum cake and this recipe is one of my most visited. This year I thought I'd mix it up a bit and try out a new recipe.

 

I used a Mikkel Karstad recipe as my inspiration and topped the cake with plums instead of the apples used in the original recipe. Good quality marzipan is hard to find in Sydney so I decided to make some using this Trine Hahnemann recipe from her book, Scandinavian Baking. I wasn't sure whether to use raw almonds or blanched almonds to make the marzipan so I used half and half.

The cake is made entirely in a food processor so it's really easy to whip up. Here’s the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. If you'd like to make an 8 inch cake then refer to the linked recipe for quantities but extend the cooking time because plum cakes take a long time to bake.

Plum and marzipan cake - adapted from a Mikkel Karstad recipe from Copenhagen Cult Recipes by Christine Rudolph and Susie Theodorou.
Marzipan
100g almonds

20g icing sugar, plus more to dust

Method
Whizz the almonds in a food processor until they become a paste. Add the icing sugar, whizz again, then add 10ml of water and whizz for a final time. This makes about 130g marzipan.

Ingredients
6-8 plums, pitted then quartered
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs raw sugar
125g unsalted butter, softened
125g soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
125g marzipan, chopped
2 eggs

¼ cup plain flour
Pinch salt
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tbs raw sugar, for topping the cake
Crème fraîche or double cream, to serve

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Grease and line the base of a 17cm tin with baking paper. In a bowl, toss the plum slices with the cinnamon and sugar, then leave for at least 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, add the butter, sugar and vanilla to the marzipan in the food processor and process until smooth. Gradually add the eggs, then the flour, salt and lemon rind. Spread the batter into the prepared tin and top with the plum slices then sprinkle over the extra tablespoon of raw sugar. Bake for 1 hour or until set and the fruit has caramelised. If the fruit is browning too much, cover with foil and cook the cake until set in the centre.

Cool for 1 hour then serve warm or at room temperature with crème fraîche or cream. 

There is no rising agent in the cake so it's quite dense. I took the leftovers into work and it was declared ' sensational'. Whilst still warm it's a bit more pudding than cake but as it's so delicious, I just know I'll be making this cake again. 

 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

 

Bye for now, 

 

Jillian