Almond Plum Picnic Cake

I’ve been making this Almond Plum Picnic Cake for years. What can I say, I’m a sucker for almond recipes. I blame my Swedish heritage. If you dig almond recipes too, search “almond” of Dirty Laundry Kitchen and you’re in for a real treat. Of all of my adventures in almond land, this Almond Plum Picnic Cake is one of my absolute favorites. It definitely makes my summer playlist when plums abound and it’s one of the few things I still make once a year. I’ve modified it only lightly from the original recipe is that this Almond Plum Picnic Cake is pretty perfect to begin with. What makes it so perfect, you ask? One of the things I love so much about this cake is its durability. Durability, in cake? What does that even mean? The Almond Plum Picnic Cake is a great coffee cake substitute and is easy to eat by hand, and it travels well, making it great for a picnic menu. It doesn’t have frosting or icing, or really any of that messy business that makes cake a less than portable food in general. Aside from all of that, the Almond Plum Picnic Cake is easy to make ahead. Even with all of these practical features, the summer plums are so gorgeous that the Almond Plum Picnic Cake is still elegant and decadent even when you pull it straight out of a backpack after a bit of a bike ride or hike. This Almond Plum Picnic Cake is pretty amazing stuff, and certainly worthy of my Fancy 4th of July picnic menu.

Print Recipe

Almond Plum Cake

My favorite cake is dense and moist with almond flour, sweet plums and tart creme fraiche to finish. It's perfectly packable for a picnic lunch.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 12

Author: Alex Roberts for Food and Wine

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour minus 2 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch or cake enhancer
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 1 can almond paste 8 ounces
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 6 eggs; room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or the seeds of a bean, or more extract
• 3- 4 large plums 12- 16 ounces; halved and pitted
• Crème fraîche for serving

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the sugar with the almond paste until crumbly.
• Add the butter and beat at high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated between additions. Beat in the vanilla extract and vanilla paste. Mix in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt just until incorporated. (If you have cake flour, you can use that instead of the flour + cornstarch, but mine is just never around when I need it).
• Slice the plums into ½- inch wedges.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
• Arrange or scatter the plums over the top of the batter.
• Bake for 1 hour, or until the cake is deeply golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Transfer the cake to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes.
• Run a knife around the edge of the cake and remove the outside ring of the pan. Let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes longer.
• Serve warm or at room temperature topped with crème fraîche. Don't forget it’s easy to make this cake ahead of time and then pack it up and bring it elsewhere. I pre-slice it at home and wrap it in foil and away we go. It holds up really well as a picnic cake and I throw a tub of crème fraîche in the cooler. Check it out in all it's glory. So pretty.