A high altitude recipe for a moist, dense, one layer almond plum cake with a hint of cardamom and orange zest, sweet juicy plums, and crunchy sliced almonds.
You might also love these recipes for blackberry cornbread cake, plum galette, and ginger plum crumb cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No Mixer Needed. This is a quick and easy recipe which comes together with just a bowl and whisk.
Enjoy Warm or Cool. This cake is wonderful when it’s warm from the oven, so there’s no waiting for the cake to cool down before you can slice into it.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Plums. You can use either red or black plums. I used black plums, which are red inside, while red plums have yellow flesh inside.
- Butter. Browning the butter first adds a toasty, nutty flavor to the cake.
- Sugar.
- Orange Zest. Use freshly grated zest from a navel orange, not dried zest.
- Eggs.
- Vanilla Extract.
- Milk + Sour Cream.
- All Purpose Flour.
- Almond Flour. If you don’t have almond flour, you can finely grind some almonds in your food processor or Ninja, and use those instead.
- Baking Powder.
- Salt.
- Ground Cardamom.
- Sliced Almonds.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray a 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Cut the plums in half, and remove the pits. Chop the plums into 1/2 inch pieces.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until nutty, golden brown milk solids form at the bottom of the pan. This process might take about 10 minutes. First the butter will hiss and splatter as the water evaporates, then as it quiets down, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter. This means the butter is done. Immediately remove from the heat, and scrape the butter, including the brown milk solids, into a large bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, measure the sugar and orange zest, then use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until fragrant. Add the browned butter, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, and sour cream, and whisk until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, whisking just until moistened. Fold in 2/3 of the chopped plums.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and add the rest of the plums on top of the batter. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds. Bake for about 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes before turning the cake out of the pan. Let cool for another 30 minutes, then serve warm, or at room temperature.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Yes, you can bake this cake in either a square or round 9-inch pan. An 8 inch pan is too small for the volume of batter, though.
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High Altitude Almond Plum Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 9 Inch Round Cake Pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb red or black plums (4 plums)
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp fresh orange zest
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- â…” cup whole milk, room temperature
- â…“ cup sour cream
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup almond flour (or very finely chopped almonds)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray a 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Cut the plums in half, and remove the pits. Chop the plums into 1/2 inch pieces.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until nutty, golden brown milk solids form at the bottom of the pan. This process might take about 10 minutes. First the butter will hiss and splatter as the water evaporates, then as it quiets down, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter. This means the butter is done. Immediately remove from the heat, and scrape the butter, including the brown milk solids, into a large bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, measure the sugar and orange zest, then use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until fragrant. Add the browned butter, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, and sour cream, and whisk until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, whisking just until moistened. Fold in 2/3 of the chopped plums.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and add the rest of the plums on top of the batter. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds. Bake for about 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes before turning the cake out of the pan. Let cool for another 30 minutes, then serve warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
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