The next round of “Bake together – the Baking Surprise” is happening! This months topic: Damson Plums! I love it! Why? Cause those little purple fellas are super delicious! There is nothing better in fall. Today one of my all-time favorites: Damson Plum Cake baked on a tray (easy peasy)!
Last month Andrea from “Zimtkeks & Apfeltarte” and moi decided to go for the topic “raspberries” – the result was a heavenly Raspberry Yoghurt Tart from Andrea and on the opposite a Raspberry Chocolate Tart – directly from hell :P Well maybe not from hell, but that time we were really opposite sides of all things possible. Andrea had a white, fluffy light tart and me a calorie bomb with dark chocolate ;) But both had raspberries in it. And that’s what it is all about – one thing in common and the rest is all… open :)
This month everything is about damson plums – those little fellas you get everywhere in late summer/beginning of fall. I made already some recipes with plums here, but never a cake like this one here even though it is one of my favorites! I have eaten this cake since I was very little – at home, it was basically everywhere this time of year.
On every market, festivities, birthday or family get-together – you can’t excape plum cakes. Every event was flooded with cakes like that – which I liked a lot and still like cause those cakes are normally very delicious! Like this one here. The curd cheese (quark) in the dough makes everything fluffy and light and delicious – the plums and streusel on top – amazing :) So if you need to feed a bunch of people, you should make this one here. I bet everybody will like it a lot!
If you do not have to feed many people at once, you could also try this quick and easy classic German (Damson) Plum Streusel Cake – it is made with a different style of dough but also very delicious!
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the streusel:
1 1/4 cups (160g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup (150g) butter, at room temperature
3 tbsp. sliced almonds
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
For the dough:
8.8 oz. (250g) curd cheese
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
6 tbsp. milk
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
3 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
For the topping:
53 oz. (1,5kg) damson plums
2-3 tbsp. coarse sugar
Für die Streusel:
160g Mehl (Type 405)
100g Zucker
1 TL Vanille Extrakt
150g weiche Butter
3 EL gehobelte Mandeln
1/4 TL Zimt (optional)
Für den Teig:
250g Quark
100g Zucker
6 EL Milch
3 EL Pflanzenöl
2 TL Vanille Extrakt
1 Ei
400g Mehl (Type 405)
3 TL Backpulver
1/4 TL Salz
Für den Belag:
1,5 kg Pflaumen
2-3 EL Hagelzucker
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Start by washing, drying and pitting the plums. To remove the stone from the plums, use a sharp knife and cut the plums on one side along the stone – do not half them completely, you should have plums that are almost in one pice. Set aside.
2. For the streusel add the flour, sugar, vanilla extract and butter in small pieces to a bowl and mix (works best with a fork or your fingers) until streusel form. Add the sliced almonds and cinnamon (optional) and mix in. Place in the fridge until needed.
3. Add the curd cheese, sugar, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Mix the flour with baking powder, and salt. Add to the bowl and knead until the dough comes together. The dough will be quite soft.
4. Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C). Line a (deep) baking sheet with baking parchment or grease. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to the size of the baking sheet and transfer – press the dough into shape if you have problems rolling out the dough due to its softness.
5. Open the plums so the loon like butterflies (but are still connected at one point) and place close to each other on the dough – cover everything. Distribute the streusel evenly on top of the plums and sprinkle with coarse sugar (optional). Bake for 25-35 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down. Serve slightly warm or completely cooled.
1. Als erstes die Zwetschgen waschen, abtrocknen und entsteinen. Zum Entsteinen nur an einer Seite mit einem scharfen Messer aufschneiden, die Zwetschgenhälften sollten an einer Seite zusammenhängen. Zur Seite stellen.
2. Für die Streusel das Mehl mit Zucker, Vanille Extrakt und der Butter (in kleinen Stücken) in einer Schüssel vermischen – das geht am Besten mit einer Gabel oder den Fingern – und dann zu Streuseln verarbeiten. Die gehobelten Mandeln und den Zimt zugeben (optional) und vermischen. Bis zur weiteren Verwendung in den Kühlschrank stellen.
3. Den Quark zusammen mit dem Zucker, Milch, Öl, Vanille Extrakt und dem Ei in einer großen Schüssel verrühren. Das Mehl mit dem Backpulver und Salz vermischen, zur Schüssel dazugeben und unterkneten. Der Teig wird recht weich sein.
4. Den Ofen auf 200°C (390°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Ein tiefes Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen oder gut einfetten. Den Teig auf einer bemehlten Fläche ausrollen und dann auf das Backblech legen. Wer Probleme beim Ausrollen hat, kann den Teig auch einfach in Form drücken.
5. Die Zwetschgen auffalten, dass sie aussehen wie ein Schmetterling und dann eng an eng auf den Teig legen. Die Streusel gleichmäßig auf den Zwetschgen verteilen und mit Hagelzucker (optional) bestreuen. Für 25-35 Minuten backen. Aus dem Ofen holen und abkühlen lassen. Man kann den Zwetschgenkuchen lauwarm (lecker!) oder abgekühlt servieren.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Print
Damson Plum Cake Tray Bake
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 70
Description
Easy to prepare and enough to feed a whole football team :) Traditional German Tray Bake: Damson Plum Cake with Streusel
Ingredients
For the streusel
- 1 1/4 cups (160g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (150g) butter, at room temperature
- 3 tbsp. sliced almonds
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
For the dough
- 8.8 oz. (250g) curd cheese
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 6 tbsp. milk
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 3 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
For the topping
- 53 oz. (1,5kg) damson plums
- 2–3 tbsp. coarse sugar
Instructions
- Start by washing, drying and pitting the plums. To remove the stone from the plums, use a sharp knife and cut the plums one one side along the stone – do not half them completely, you should have plums that are almost in one pice. Set aside.
- For the streusel add the flour, sugar, vanilla extract and butter in small pieces to a bowl and mix (works best with a fork or your fingers) until streusel form. Add the sliced almonds and cinnamon (optional) and mix in. Place in the fridge until needed.
- Add the curd cheese, sugar, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Mix the flour with baking powder, and salt. Add to the bowl and knead until the dough comes together. The dough will be quite soft.
- Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C). Line a (deep) baking sheet with baking parchment or grease. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to the size of the baking sheet and transfer – press the dough into shape if you have problems rolling out the dough due to its softness.
- Open the plums so the loon like butterflies (but are still connected at one point) and place close to each other on the dough – cover everything. Distribute the streusel evenly on top of the plums and sprinkle with coarse sugar (optional). Bake for 25-35 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down. Serve slightly warm or completely cooled.
Notes
- Enjoy baking!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 20
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
Genau was meine Grossmutter immer gemacht hat! Ein beliebtes Rezept! Wir finden wo ich in den USA wohne nicht mehr diese echte Zwetschgen sondern nur rote Pflaumen. Wuerden Sie denn Pflaumen benutzen? (Meine Grossmutter benutzte such Aepfeln oder Aprikosen.)
Wir haben auch kein echtes Quark wow in Deutschland. “Small-curd cottage cheese” und joghurt sind beide falsch. Was findet man in dem Amerikanischen Laden fuer Quark?
Um das Koerper zu helfen, haben Sie auch andere Zutaten statt weisses Mehl und Butter zu empfehlen?
Bitte lesen Sie auch meine anderen Fragen auf Englisch, weil ich viele Woerter auf Deutsch vergesse.
Ich freue mich diese Seite, diesen Schatz fuer einen Familienrezept, zu finden! Danke schoen!
This is one my favorite cakes from childhood memories of my German grandmother! Thank you for this recipe!
It has become very difficult to find Damson plums in my parts of the U.S. Round, red plums are much more common in stores and fruit stands. Would you use the red plums if you could not find Damson plums? They have the wrong shape or profile for butterflying along the top of the cake. (My grandmother would also use apples or apricots. I think even peaches or nectarines could work if they were not too wet. Do you?)
The absence of German quark is still a problem for Americans who are adapting German recipes. Your website says that you are working to remedy this problem in the other direction, so I wonder whether you’ve found a decent substitute for quark. I’ve been told to try Greek yogurt, which is now widely available (a welcome change: basically no Americans had heard of Greek yogurt when I lived in Germany). You mentioned “curd cheese,” which we might interpret as small-curd cottage cheese (whole- or low-fat), but would that still be too chunky? Would the lumps of curd need mashing? Cottage cheese may not be as naturally sweet as quark, but I can no longer remember tasting quark as an individual ingredient, so I do not know. A friend from India once taught me how to make a sort of farmer’s cheese by curdling milk with vinegar and pouring off the resulting liquid components through cheesecloth to leave a smooth cheese with an extremely fine curd. Perhaps you would know a similar method, given that it seems ancient and might have developed independently in Europe to preserve dairy milk. Would that be better than American cottage cheese?
Nutrition-wise, I’m also curious whether you’ve adapted this recipe to use whole wheat, spelt, oat, barley, or other flours (not all-purpose or white flour)? Do you have any adaptations to use less butter and more oils?
Thank you again for this treasure of a family recipe!
Hi Sandra,
you can definitely use the red plums for this kind of bake – the shape of the plums is not that important – the flavor is what counts and that is similar to the damson plums :)
If you cut them into quarters or even more slices it should be fine.
About the quark – you can check this video here – they are making Quark from scratch. Haven’t tried it yet, but looks promising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h96eTJLEkY
And about the flour – spelt flour is absolutely fine … I use that quite often. Whole wheat is fine, but would not go all the way and replace all of the flour with whole wheat flour. And the butter/oil… you can make streusel with oil – absolutely no problem :)
Cheers
Marc