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    Home » Recipes

    Plum Almond Cake

    Published: Sep 22, 2022 by Sonila · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    Plum Almond Cake makes for a light, fruity cake that is perfect to serve with coffee, tea or even munch on for breakfast. You wouldn’t know it from how pretty this cake is, but you’d be surprised to hear that two of the ingredients are yogurt and olive oil:)).

    A slice of Plum Almond Cake on a square white plate, shown next to a cake stand with the rest of the cake on it.
    Slice of Plum Almond Cake

    Mediterranean Plum Flavors

    I grew up in the Mediterranean and we love plums and most fruits really. We enjoy them fresh when seasonal, we add them to cakes and desserts and we preserve them in jams and marmalades. We even dry plums and make a winter hot drink with boiled prunes.

    I make this Red Plum Jam anytime I find the plums at a convenient price at end of season.

    Please keep in mind that plums have different varieties that change in color, flavor and shape. I used about 5 plums like the ones shown below, but if you were to use let’s say Italian plums, you’d need about 12 of them to make up the volume.

    About 5 plums next to each other, on a counter.
    Plums

    Ingredients & Process

    I use a lot of ingredients for this cake, but believe me it’s worth it.

    • Dry Ingredients – all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, powder sugar and pinch of salt
    • Wet ingredients – eggs, butter, olive oil, yogurt, lemon juice, vanilla extract, almond extract, orange liquor
    • Fruits – chop 2 plums, slice the other 3. Zest 1 lemon.
    • Nuts – sliced almonds
    Ingredients for plum cake: butter, eggs, olive oil, yogurt, sugar, flour, almonds, brown sugar, almond extract, vanilla extract, lemon, leveners, chopped plums, sliced plums.
    Ingredients for Plum Cake

    Usually as with most cake, I whisk baking powder and baking soda into the all purpose flour. Then I use a hand held mixer and mix eggs, sugar, butter and the extracts together.

    Add yogurt, olive oil and lemon juice then slowly add the all purpose flour to create the batter. Incorporate chopped plums and lemon zest into the batter using a spatula.

    Pour batter into a springform pan (9 inch diameter). Add brown sugar over sliced plums, then cover the top of the batter with plums. Use a pattern so the cake comes out pretty when baked.

    Cake batter garnished with plum slices.
    Cake batter garnished with plum slices

    Then add sliced almonds over plums. Bake cake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about 180 degrees Celsius) for about an hour. Use the middle rack and if towards the end, you notice the cake is getting too brown on top, cover the cake with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes.

    Let the cake cool down before cutting into and serving. Add powder sugar on top of the cake if desired.

    Plum cake in springform, just baked and on a counter.
    Plum Cake Just Baked
    Plum almond cake, out of the springform and on a cake stand.
    Plum Almond Cake
    The same plum almond cake now shown with powdered sugar on top.
    Plums Cake with Powdered Sugar

    Tips and Notes

    I make this cake quite often and what I have realized is that sometimes I don’t have all the ingredients on hand so usually I swap some ingredients.

    • If you don’t have olive oil or don’t like to add olive oil to a cake you can replace the olive oil with avocado oil. Or instead of oil, just add half a stick of butter, so in total you’d have 1.5 sticks of butter.
    • If you don’t have almond extract, use 2 tbsps of vanilla extract instead of 1.
    • You can skip adding almonds on top of the cake if you are allergic to nuts or don’t like almonds. They add flavor and crunch and texture to the cake but you can also skip them if you have issues with almonds.
    • Here in US I prefer serving this cake with powdered sugar, most people are familiar with it and like it. But if you are from the Mediterranean, I bet you’re used to cakes covered in syrup too. So feel free to add syrup over the cake if you so like. Let the cake absorb it overnight then serve the next day. I wouldn’t remove the cake from springform if I added syrup.
    Slice of plum almond cake on a square plate.
    Slice of Plum Almond Cake garnished with Powdered Sugar
    A plum almond cake, already baked but not sliced featured on a cake stand in the counter of a kitchen.

    Plum Almond Cake

    Sonila
    This Plum Almond Cake is an easy cake but so rich and fruity, full of flavors and perfect for tea or coffee. You can even have a slice for breakfast as it is not overly sweet.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 1 hr
    Total Time 1 hr 15 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Mediterranean
    Servings 12 servings
    Calories 463 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 9 inch springform pan
    • 1 glass mixing bowl
    • 1 Handheld mixer
    • 1 spatula

    Ingredients
      

    • 2.5 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 tbsp baking powder
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 5 plums
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 stick unsalted butter
    • 3 eggs
    • 0.5 cups olive oil
    • 1 cup yogurt
    • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
    • 1 tbsp almond extract
    • 1 lemon juice and zest
    • 2 ozs orange liquor
    • 0.5 cup sliced almonds
    • 0.25 cup powdered sugar
    • 0.5 cup raw cane sugar or brown sugar
    • pinch salt don't add if you're using salted butter

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (about 180 C)
    • Add baking powder and baking soda over all purpose flour, whisk and set aside.
    • Using a handheld mixer, mix eggs and sugar until creamy. Add butter and continue mixing. Add slowly the vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon juice, orange liquor, olive oil, yogurt and mix until everything is incorporated.
    • Slowly add the flour mix, add little by little not all at once. Add pinch of salt too. Once it's hard to mix with the mixer, remove and use the spatula to scrape the side and mix into the batter. Add chopped plums and lemon zest and fold into the batter with spatula.
    • Add brown sugar over sliced plums and let the plums absorb it.
    • Spray the springform pan with non-stick spray, then flour lightly. Add batter on the pan and use the spatula to spread evenly.
    • Add sugared sliced plums over batter and create a symmetric pattern to your taste, it'll make the cake look so pretty.
    • Spread the sliced almonds over plums. Bake for about 1 hour.
    • Let the cake cool down for few hours before cutting into it. Garnish with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy:)

    Video

    Notes

    • Leftovers – I cover the leftovers with a plastic wrap or if you have a sealed cake stand, it’s good on room temperature for a day. Then I refrigerate for 2-3 days. It never lasts longer than that. 

    Nutrition Label

    Nutrition Facts
    Plum Almond Cake
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 463 Calories from Fat 216
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 24g37%
    Saturated Fat 7g44%
    Trans Fat 0.3g
    Monounsaturated Fat 12g
    Cholesterol 64mg21%
    Sodium 228mg10%
    Potassium 222mg6%
    Carbohydrates 57g19%
    Fiber 3g13%
    Sugar 32g36%
    Protein 7g14%
    Vitamin A 412IU8%
    Vitamin C 7mg8%
    Calcium 134mg13%
    Iron 2mg11%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 463kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 7gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 228mgPotassium: 222mgFiber: 3gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 412IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 134mgIron: 2mg
    Keyword Plum Almond Cake
    Tried this recipe?Mention @mediterranean_latin_love or tag #mediterraneanlatinloveaffair!
    Does the plum cake need alcohol?

    Alcohol evaporates during baking, but it helps give the plum cake a richer flavor and a moist crumb. I love adding a citrus based alcohol to plum cakes like Cointreau or Grand Marnier. If you don’t like citrus type flavors, then Amaretto would work great with plum/almond flavor profile.

    Can I use other plum varieties than those pictured for this plum cake?

    Yes you can. These plums are sweet and juicy and they give a beautiful red color to this cake. Other plums might not be so sweet so adjust for sugar accordingly. Also, size matters. I used 5 plums for this cake but if you are using Italian plums, you might need 12-14 of them since they’re smaller.

    If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save the below image to your boards in Pinterest. Let me know in comments if you made this cake and you have any questions. If you loved it, I’d appreciate a 5 star rating too. Feel free to tag me your pictures in social media if made this recipe:). Thank you!

    Instagram: mediterranean_latin_love or Twitter: MediterrLatin or Facebook: Mediterranean Latin Love Affair.

    Plum almond cake on a cake stand in the background and in foreground there's a square plate with a slice of cake.
    Plums Almond Cake

    Other Mediterranean Desserts

    Feel free to browse some of my other Mediterranean desserts:

    • Sour Cream Cookies (Kifle)
    • Albanian Baklava (Bakllava)
    • Mediterranean Almond Cookies
    • Orange Cake
    • Apple Honey Cake

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    Filed Under: Desserts, Mediterranean Food, Recipes

    About Sonila

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Patsy

      December 30, 2022 at 9:21 am

      Am just about to make it, but have to calculate some of the ingredients into metric quantities Could you adjust your recipes to include both metric and american quantities?

      Reply
      • admin

        December 30, 2022 at 10:33 am

        Hi Patsy, I’ll try my best to include metric going forward. Since I live in US, everything I buy in the markets here is in ounces or pounds etc.
        Do you use cups & tablespoon measurements? If so the only one you need to calculate in this recipe is the butter. 1 stick butter is about 113 grams

        Reply

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    Sonila Zarate
    Sonila Zarate

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

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