How to bake quick and easy plum cake recipes well? Our expert tips will help you succeed every time!

Getting Started with that Plum Cake

Alright, so today I got this idea, you know? Make a plum cake. Had a whole bowl of plums just looking at me, practically begging to be used. I hate seeing good fruit go to waste, so a cake it was. Quick and easy, that was the plan anyway. Sometimes these “quick” things take longer than you think, but what the heck.

Prepping the Goods

First off, I had to get all my ducks in a row. Pulled out the flour, sugar, eggs, all that jazz. My butter, of course, was hard as a rock. Always forget to take it out of the fridge. So I zapped it in the microwave for a few seconds, probably a bit too long, got a bit melty in one spot. Oh well. Then came the plums. Washing them is the easy part. Pitting them? That’s another story. Some were cooperative, others just wanted to make a mess. My fingers were all sticky and purple by the end of it. Typical.

• Flour, check.
• Sugar, check.
• Eggs, check.
• Slightly-too-melty butter, check.
• A bowl of mauled plums, check.

Mixing it All Up

Time to make the batter. I dumped the sugar and that butter into my old stand mixer. Let it whirl for a bit. Then cracked in the eggs, one at a time, mostly. Sometimes I just chuck ’em all in if I’m feeling lazy, don’t tell anyone. Added a splash of vanilla. Then the flour. I try to add it slowly, I really do. But there’s always that poof of flour that goes everywhere. My counter looked like a winter wonderland for a minute there. Mixed it until it just came together. Don’t want to overmix, they say. Who are “they” anyway?

Getting it Oven-Ready

Greased up my trusty cake tin. I think it’s a bit battered, this tin, seen a lot of cakes in its day. Poured in about half the batter, spread it out best I could. Then I started arranging the plum halves on top. Tried to make a nice pattern. Some sank right in, others sat on top looking all pretty. Then dolloped the rest of the batter over and around the plums. Smoothed it out a bit. Not exactly a work of art, but it’s a rustic cake, right? That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The Baking and Waiting Game

Into the oven it went. I always say a little prayer to the cake gods at this point. Set the timer, and then, well, you wait. The house started smelling pretty good after about 20 minutes. That sweet, fruity smell. That’s the best part of baking, I reckon. I peeked through the oven door a few times. Probably shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself. Gave it the old skewer test after about 40 minutes. Still a bit wet. Gave it another 10. Finally, it came out clean. Pulled it out, golden brown, bubbling a little around the plums.

The Grand Finale (Sort Of)

Let it sit in the tin for a bit, then carefully, very carefully, turned it out onto a wire rack. It didn’t fall apart, so that’s a win! It wasn’t perfectly level, some plums had definitely sunk more than others, and one side was a bit darker. But you know what? It looked like a homemade cake. And that’s exactly what it was. Waited for it to cool down, or at least, cool down enough so I wouldn’t burn my tongue. The anticipation, I tell ya.

And yeah, it tasted good. The plums were tart and juicy, the cake was sweet and soft. Not bad for a quick afternoon bake. Definitely not something you’d see in a fancy bakery window, but it hit the spot. That’s all that matters, right? Another baking adventure logged.