Hungarian Plum Cake Recipe

Published on October 7, 2015 • Last updated January 28, 2019 by Elizabeth

This quick and easy Hungarian plum cake is a great way to showcase fresh, seasonal plums. It’s very nutty and delicious, perfect with an afternoon cuppa. Post updated 16 August 2018.

“Mum, why it so windy?”

It’s that time of year again. The gales have returned causing ferry transport disruptions. It’s getting dark early and outdoors is quickly becoming an unpleasant place to be. Any attempts at walking outdoors are done at a 70-degree angle.

There’s also a whole slew of contagions going around. Madam has the spewy bug – a mandatory 48-hour quarantine from school from the time of the last spew. Lovely.

It’s cake baking weather!

I found myself with four punnets of British plums the other day, salvage from working in the shop. They were past their best and a few of the plums had gone a bit squidgy, but I wanted to salvage what I could.

A perfect time to try out the Hungarian Plum Cake recipe a neighbour of mine had given me. He, in turn, had been given it by a Hungarian fellow he knows. Update in August 2018: said neighbour grows his own plums, and they’re now available in the village shop. It seemed an appropriate time to make this recipe again!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS HUNGARIAN PLUM CAKE RECIPE

plums! I’ve used a small variety grown by my neighbour. These just need to be halved; larger plums can be quartered.
ground almonds – I grind my own in a high-speed blender, but ready-ground will work
dark soft brown sugar – this gives it a caramel flavour
walnuts or a combination of mixed nuts, chopped
eggs
butter
a little bit of flour – most of this cake is made up of nuts
almond extract – don’t omit this as it gives the cake an extra almond flavour

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HOW TO MAKE THIS HUNGARIAN PLUM CAKE

Step 1: cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Step 2: add the eggs, beating well after each addition.

Step 3: sift over the flour.

Step 4: fold in the flour gently.

Step 5: add the ground almonds, chopped nuts and almond extract.

Step 6: halve or quarter your plums and place them, skin side up, over the cake. Bake!

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This cake, despite its sugar content, is almost savory. The recipe calls for brown sugar and I used dark soft brown sugar. This, along with the ground almonds and small self-raising flour content creates a dense, almost treacley cake studded with segments of purple skinned plums.

You could also use light brown sugar for a lighter cake, but make sure you drop the plum quarters in purple flesh side up so you can see the lovely colour after baking.

I still have quite a few more plums in the fridge… what would you do with them?