Plum Streusel Cake
A soft German-style plum streusel cake with a buttery base, a thick layer of juicy plums and a golden crumb topping. Baked in a 9x9 inch tin and cut into squares or bars — perfect with afternoon coffee or chai.
Equipment
- 23 x 23 cm (9 x 9 inch) square baking tin
- Baking parchment
- Hand whisk Or Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- mixing bowls
- Kitchen scale
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
For the Batter
- 125 grams soft butter (½ cup + 1 tbsp)
- 100 grams sugar (½ cup)
- 1 teasoonp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 175 grams all-purpose flour (1⅓ cups)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons milk
For the Plums
- 500 grams ripe plums (just over 1 lb, pitted and quartered)
- 1-2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For the Streusel Topping
- 75 grams all-purpose flour (a bit over ½ cup)
- 50 grams sugar (¼ cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
- 50 grams cold butter (3.5 tbsp)
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Prepare. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F), top and bottom heat. Grease a 23 x 23 cm square tin or line it with baking parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
- Macerate the plums. Toss the quartered plums with the sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Set aside while you make the batter.
- Make the batter. Beat the soft butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Sift the flour with the baking powder and fold it in alternately with the milk until you have a smooth batter.
- Spread. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared tin. It will look like a thin layer — this is correct.
- Arrange the plums. Place the plums closely over the batter, slightly overlapping, cut side facing up.
- Make the streusel. Rub the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, cold butter and salt together quickly with your fingertips until you have uneven crumbs. Scatter evenly over the plums.
- Bake. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the streusel is deep golden and a skewer inserted into a cake-only area comes out clean. If the plums are very juicy, bake 5 minutes longer.
- Cool and serve. Let the cake cool completely in the tin before lifting it out and cutting. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
Video
Notes
Recipe Notes
- Use firm-ripe plums. Overripe fruit releases too much juice and can make the base soggy.
- The butter for the batter must be soft; the butter for the streusel must be cold. Weigh out both before starting.
- Cool completely before cutting — warm, the cake crumbles; cool, it slices cleanly.
- Yields 9 large squares, each of which can be halved into 2 bars, for 18 bars total.
- Best on day two, once the plum juices have settled into the cake.
- Apricots, peaches or nectarines can be substituted in the same quantity.