German Plum Cake
Cars… beer… sausages… efficiency… we have much to thank the Germans for. And if there’s another thing they really excel at, it’s baking. We were in the country recently and quite honestly the breads, cakes, pastries, gingerbread, et al were an absolute highlight; dang, these people know their way around a bucket of flour and an oven. With Bavarian travels now just a 2024 memory, we thought we’d concoct a glorious yeasted plum cake to try and keep the vibes alive – it’s an absolute cracker, topped with juicy plums and some sweet, buttery streusel.
Having so recently hoovered our way through excellent Konditoreien in the field, we got to wondering: Why are Germans such ridiculously good bakers? Maybe it’s their love of precision. Or maybe it’s to do with the historical guild system which began in Medieval times; German bakers had to complete extensive apprenticeships and master specific techniques before they could open their own bakeries, a system said to have established extremely high standards.
The climate plays a role too – those cold winters defo drive a person to carbs, creamy cakes and a deep-fried krapfen or two for breakfast. The country traditionally grew a lot of rye and other grains, leading to an incredible bread diversity – did you know there are around 3,200 types of bread in Germany? Amazing! Maybe the Kaffee und Kuchen custom (which is akin to our morning or afternoon tea) has helped maintain demand for high-quality baked goods and kept bakeries as central community fixtures. We don’t really know the exact answer. It’s maybe all these things.
The guts of this cake is light and airy, perfect for soaking up the juices of those roasted plums (you could also use apricots). The dough is rather soft and sticky, so it is best made in a cake mixer but not impossible to make manually; turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands. The cake is best enjoyed fresh from the oven when the base is at its fluffiest-freshest, and the plums are glistening. But it is actually pretty decent a few days later too; store it tightly covered in the fridge and eat with tea or coffee. The number of plums you require depends on their type and size obviously, and how closely you squish them together. Try to find free-stone ones, as this makes quartering them substantially easier.
SERVES 8
300g (2 cups) plain flour, approximately
55g ((¼ cup) caster sugar
2 tsp dried instant yeast
½ tsp salt
125ml (½ cup) lukewarm milk
1 egg, beaten well
50g unsalted butter, softened
8-10 firm, ripe plums, pitted and quartered
Streusel
100g all-purpose flour
60g caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
60g cold unsalted butter, chopped
Lightly grease a 23x23cm pan, then line with baking paper.
Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and stir to mix well. Add the milk, egg, and butter, then mix at medium speed until a course dough forms; it should be soft, a bit sticky but still hold its shape. Add a few more tablespoons of flour if it is too soft. Increase the speed slightly, then knead for about 6 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic – alternatively, you can knead the dough in the bowl or on a lightly floured surface by hand.
Pick the dough up, stretch it in the air like pizza dough to roughly form a large square, then transfer it to the prepared pan. Stretch it to evenly cover the base; it will spread more as it proofs, so don’t worry too much if it doesn’t quite reach to the edges. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, then leave it in a draft-free place for about 1 hour, or until it doubles in bulk. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180˚C, fan-forced.
For the streusel, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and a large pinch of salt in a bowl, and whisk to mix well. Add the butter , then use your fingers to rub it into the mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Arrange the plum wedges, skin-side down, on the dough in neat, overlapping rows to cover. Scatter over the streusel. Bake for 40 -45 minutes, or until the plums begin to release their juices and the edges of the cake and the streusel are golden. Cool, then cut into pieces to serve.
