Plum Cake

This simple, crowd-pleasing plum cake has a moist and fluffy texture, is light on butter, and is made with Greek yogurt! Only 20 minutes of prep; and the rest is idle time (60 minutes)! It's a perfect Summer or Autumn treat to share with family and friends for breakfast, brunch, or dessert! Serve it warm, with a scoop of ice cream, topped with powdered sugar, or drizzled with caramel sauce!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword plum cake

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 20

Servings

Calories 309kcal

Author Julia

Ingredients

3 medium plums
2 cups all-purpose flour sifted or aerated (see note below)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1.25 cups granulated sugar
4 oz salted butter melted
2 eggs
1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. If your oven has a convection setting, use a convection bake setting. Line the bottom of the 9x3-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the sides and the bottom of the springform pan with butter or cooking spray.
You will use 3 plums. Slice each plum into thin wedges (but not too thin) - See photos below for reference. Set aside. Discard the pits.
In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking powder.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, melted butter, and egg, and beat using a whisk for about 1 or 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth (not grainy), light in color, and fluffy.
Mix in Greek yogurt and vanilla and whisk just until combined.
Add the flour and baking powder mixture gradually, 1 cup of flour + 1 teaspoon of baking powder at a time, whisking it together with the wet ingredients just until combined. Do not over-mix.
Pour the cake batter into the parchment paper-lined springform pan. Arrange plum slices in a circular pattern on top of the cake. See my photos below for reference.
Place the baking pan with the cake batter on the middle rack (this is especially important for non-convection ovens). Bake for about 1 hour until the tester (or toothpick) inserted in the center of the cake (away from the plums) comes out clean. If baking in convection bake mode, the cake should take about 45 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven. Let it cool in a springform pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Then, release it from the springform pan. At this point, if the cake is cool enough, you can slide your hand (or a large wide spatula) under the cake, between the parchment paper and the bottom of the cake, and transfer the cake without the parchment paper attached to its bottom onto a cake plate.
When serving, dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Notes

How to properly measure flour using cups

Do not pack flour into a measuring cup! Using measuring cups, the proper way to measure flour is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry cake!
This aeration tip also applies to these 2 kinds of popular gluten-free flours, such as Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour or King Arthur gluten-free measure-for-measure flour.

Baking tips

If you have a convection setting in your oven, use that to bake this cake.
If you don't have a convection setting, bake the cake on the middle rack or above the middle one.
Ensure the oven is fully preheated to 350 F before placing the cake.

What baking pans can you use?

I used a 9x3-inch round springform baking pan.
9x13 rectangular baking pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
10-inch or 12-inch round high-sided cast-iron skillet. Bake it for about 45 or 50 minutes or longer until crispy, golden-brown edges form and the toothpick comes out clean in the center.

Other notes

Make it gluten-free. This cake has been tested with Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. You can also use King Arthur gluten-free measure-for-measure flour. If using any of these flours, you might have to add ¼ cup extra of Greek yogurt if the batter is too thick.
Greek yogurt can be replaced with plain Kefir, regular yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream - if you make this recipe with regular all-purpose of cake flour. If you use gluten-free flour, you can replace Greek yogurt with regular yogurt or sour cream.

Nutrition