Easy Plum Cake with Sour Cream
Easy Plum Cake with Sour Cream is a simple one-layer cake filled with fresh plums, warm cinnamon and cardamom, and a tender crumb made especially moist with sour cream.
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It's one of those cakes I return to every year as fresh plums begin appearing at the market-from late summer straight into the first cooler days of fall.
Simple to make and beautiful without frosting or decorating, it's equally at home with afternoon tea, coffee, or served for dessert with softly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
A Cake I Make Every Plum Season
For me, fresh plums arrive at one of my favorite times of year-that lovely transition between the abundance of summer and the cozy days of early fall.
And almost every year, they end up in this cake.
The plums soften as they bake, settling into a lightly spiced sour cream cake that's buttery, tender, and just sweet enough. It's uncomplicated baking at its best: a simple cake to keep, share, and most definitely make again.
If you love plum cakes for afternoon tea, you might also like my new Plum Cake with Almonds: A Late Summer Tea Cake, made with ground almonds, warm spices, and an apricot glaze, or this Apricot and Plum Cake.
Plum Cake Overview
- Tender and moist: Sour cream gives the cake a beautifully soft crumb.
- Filled with fresh fruit: Sliced plums become sweet and almost jammy as they bake.
- Easy one-layer cake: No frosting, filling, or decorating required.
- Perfect from late summer into fall: Especially lovely with tea, coffee, or as an easy seasonal dessert.
Plum Cake Ingredients
This simple cake requires equally simple ingredients you likely have on hand, except maybe the plums. The exact measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- All-purpose flour: Provides the structure for this simple one-layer cake.
- Baking powder: Gives the cake its lift.
- Cinnamon and cardamom: A lightly spiced combination that's especially good with plums.
- Butter and granulated sugar: Creamed together for a light, tender crumb.
- Eggs and vanilla: Add richness and flavor.
- Sour cream: The ingredient that makes this plum cake especially tender and moist.
- Fresh plums: Choose ripe but still firm plums that hold their shape when sliced and baked.
How to Make This One Layer Easy Plum Cake
Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch cake or springform pan.
- Combine the Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.
- Make the Batter: Cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix just until smooth.
- Add the Plums: Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Arrange the sliced plums over the top and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for several minutes, then run a thin knife around the edges. Cool completely before serving.
Serving Plum Cake
This plum cake is lovely at room temperature with a dusting of confectioners' sugar. For dessert, serve it with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
It's also an easy cake to slice and serve with coffee or afternoon tea.
Storing
Store the cooled cake covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, refrigerate it and bring individual slices to room temperature before serving.
Plum Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ cup butter 1 stick, 8 tablespoons
- 1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 tablelspoons for topping
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2-3 plums pitted and sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch cake pan. A springform pan works great with this cake!
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cardamom.
- With an electric or stand mixer, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar, beating until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla and sour cream to the bowl, mix on low speed until just combined. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until smooth.
- Transfer cake batter to prepared pan. Top with sliced plums and sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the cake top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven, run a sharp knife around the edges of the cake while it's still hot to loosen it from the pan. Let the cake cool completely on a rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar, slice and serve with ice cream or whipped cream if desired.
Notes
- Plums: Use ripe but still firm plums so they hold their shape as the cake bakes. Depending on size, you may need several plums to cover the top.
- Sour cream: Full-fat sour cream gives the cake its tender, moist crumb. Plain Greek yogurt can work as a substitute if needed.
- Pan: A 9-inch springform pan makes the cake easiest to remove, but a regular 9-inch cake pan also works well.
- Serving: Let the cake cool before dusting with confectioners' sugar. Serve as is or with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- Storage: Store the cooled cake covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. Refrigerate for longer storage and bring to room temperature before serving.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
More Cake Recipes
- Easy Strawberry Ricotta Cake Recipe
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- Strawberry Rhubarb Cake: Simple and Delicious
- Sweet Tea Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake
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I made this cake today, it smells so good! I can't wait to taste it. It is beautiful.
Hi Angela! Thank you for trying the plum cake. I love this recipe and am thrilled you tried it!
This cake is so good! I had to sub yogurt for sour cream but other than that, made as directed. It really will be one of those recipes I make again and again. I can't wait to try it with pears in the fall.
Hi AndreaJane! I LOVE this cake and did see a fresh batch of plums in the market today. I'm just behind you, but will be baking it this week too. I'm so glad you enjoyed it-- and I love your substitution of yogurt! Thank you for trying it.
I pretty much gave up baking 15 years ago when kids had flown the nest and I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I have only recently found gluten free 1 for 1 flour on the shelf and decided to give this recipe a try. Texture is a little grainy,asI jad been told, and I upped the cardamom...again, on recommendation for GF flour. But it is so light and tasty. It is a treat to have home baked goods and I wanted to let you know it can work for GF diets too. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi Maria! Thank you for sharing such an inspiring story. Baking is such a pleasure and I'm thrilled you found a flour that can work for you. I often substitute this flour and it works with almost any baking recipe.
Thanks for the update, I am also trying to bake gluten free and it helps to know it has worked for someone else.
Hi Stephanie!
Could you substitute the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt?
Hi Natalie! You can absolutely substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream. Use a 1:1 ratio.
Can almond flour be substituted for the A/P flour in this recipe. Will it change anything.
Hi Nancy, I have not tested this specific recipe with almond flour. However, it is a general consensus that almond flour can be substituted for all-purpose flour in a 1:1 ratio. However, almond flour retains more moisture than AP flour, so adding almond flour to the mix may be necessary. I would begin by using the same measurement and adjust as necessary.
Your recipe looks amazing and can’t wait to make it. How far in advance can I make it??
Hi Katie! Thank you so much— this cake is always a favorite. You can definitely make in advance. It stores at room temperature for up to 3 days (although it’s always best when freshly baked). You can also freeze the cake for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely and then double wrap tightly (plastic wrap and foil) for extra protection.
3 large eggs sounds like a lot; most plum cake recipes I've come across just use one. Is that an error?
Hi Jill, three eggs is correct.
Hi! Would this work with sour plums? I bought a basket of plums but they are too sour 🙁 and I’m trying to find something to do with them! Thanks!
Stephanie, what type of plum did you use? We have an Italian plum tree so our plums are smaller so 2-3 plums doesn't sound like enough. I don't want to ruin the cake with too much juice from the plums if i add more. Whst is your advice please? Thank you so much.
Hi Dolly! You are SO fortunate to have an Italian plum tree! I love to make chutney with those. As far as the number of plums to use, I would slice them and arrange in a circular pattern, not overcrowding the plums, but making a nice design. Plums come in so many different sizes that I use the number of plums necessary to fill out the top of the cake.
Thanks so much Stephanie!!!
You’re welcome!! Hope you like it ❤️
Having a Polish husband, one of his all time favourites is a plum cake. After trying several different recipes over the years, we have finally found a winner!! Moist cake for me with a juicy plum top. Made a few tweaks, less sugar in the batter and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top and used yogurt instead of sour cream because I didn't have any on hand. The title of this is true... we're in the middle of plum season right now and I'll be making this over and over again! Thanks!
Love your recipes and menus. got me kick-started again. It is winter in Australia so will have to wait awhile. Thanks
Thank you! It’s been really warm here in August. Winter is sounding very welcome to me! You live in a beautiful place! Glad you found some ideas for later 😍😍!
I had some plums in my Refrigerator and decided to look for a recipe. I do not have cardamom but my son looks for a substitute and found that I can use nutmeg. Do not now what changed as this is the first time doing the recipe but the true is that I am so happy that I made this....yummy yummy... For sure will have to do it again. Love this recipe. Recommended!
I had some plums in my Refrigerator and decided to look for a recipe. I do not have cardamom but my son looks for a substitute and found that I can use nutmeg. Do not now what changed as this is the first time doing the recipe but the true is that I am so happy that I made this....yummy yummy... For sure will have to do it again. Love this recipe. Recommended!
Hi Sandra! I'm so glad you like the Plum Cake. It's a favorite at our house too -- and nutmeg is a fabulous substitution!! Thanks for letting us know!
Love your recipes!!
Thank you!! 😍
I made this tonight and it was wonderful. Easy and very tasty, will be making it again. Thanks for posting this recipe
Thank you so much, Marjorie! It's one of my favorites too. And simple to adapt to other fruit.
I did use nectarines & it was a hit with all. Though I think plums would be better with the cardamon. The cardamon almost overpowers the sweet citrusy taste of nectarines. I also will try pears and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
Great recipe. Thanks.
Couldn't find plums quite yet here. I'm going to try it with nectarines. What do you think? Any suggestions?
The cake base looks yummy, so I'm thinking any stone fruit will work.
Thanks.
Hi PattiAnn! Nectarines would be a perfect substitute. You've inspired me -- I have to try it too!
I did use nectarines & it was a hit with all. Though I think plums would be better with the cardamon. The cardamon almost overpowers the sweet citrusy taste of nectarines. I also will try pears and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
Great recipe. Thanks.
You're right. I didn't think about the cardamom and peaches. Reducing it and perhaps adding a bit of cinnamon would be delicious! And pears is a great idea!
Simple but exquisite!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Melissa!