Pflaumen Kuchen is German for plum cake. This last semester I (Kristen) took a begnning German class, and I loved it. I was so excited to learn more about the culture and the language, I was in heaven. On our last day I brought the german dessert (or for me could easily be a breakfast treat), plum cake. While this might look like it is gross, I assure you that it is delcious and I came home with hardly any left-overs.
Ingredients:
9.5 Tbs. butter (divided)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar (divided)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup milk
2 3/4 lbs. Italian plums (or any other fruit)
1 cup sliced almonds (optional)
2 Tbs. cinnamon
Directions:
1. Melt 8 Tbs. butter
2. Combine the butter and 3/4 cup sugar.
3. Add the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder, vanilla and milk. Mix well.
4. Grease a jolly roll pan and preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheight.
5. Spread the dough onto the greased pan.
6. Wash, halve, and pit plums. Cut each plum into four slices.
7. Lay plums cut side up and touching each other on the dough.
8. Combine the rest of the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of plums.
9. WIth the remaining 1.5 Tbs. of butter put a little bit of butter into the center of each plum.
10. (Optional Step) Sprinkle the almonds onto the cake.
11. Bake for 30 minutes.
I grew up having this kind of cake whenever I would visit my grandmother, Helga, and I am so glad to finally have the recipe to share! My german teacher assured me that it tasted very authentic, but did say that a truly authentic german recipe would be to have the fruit standing on its side to allow a lot more space for a lot more fruit (which would require more than 2 3/4 lbs. of fruit). This cake was traditionally made by those that had fruit trees and had access to much more fruit.
That looks SO good!