Plum Cake

Plum Cake is a traditional British recipe for a classic Victorian fruit cake bound with a ground almond and plain flour egg mix. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Plum Cake.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

80 minutes

Total Time:

100 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Baking Recipes Cake Recipes British Recipes

This is a traditional British plum cake, dating back to Victorian times and the word 'plum' refers to the currants, raisins and sultanas in the cake which were collectively and colloquially known as 'plums' at the time. So, there are no actual plums used in the cake. This is also the antecedent of modern-day Christmas Genoa Cake.

Ingredients:

225g butter
225g moist sugar
225g currants
225g sultanas
225g seedless raisins
60g ground almonds
60g slivered almonds
120g mixed peel, finely chopped
freshly-grated zest of 1/2 lemon
3 eggs
225g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sherry
milk to moisten

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly after each addition then beat in a little of the flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Clean the fruit and add to the mixture along with the almonds, mixed peel and lemon zest.

Sift together the remaining flour and baking powder in a separate bowl then add to the fruit mix along with the sherry. Now add just enough milk to attain a dropping consistency (where the mix drops easily from a spoon) then turn into a greased and lined oven pre-heated to 180°C.

Bake for about 80 minutes, or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then set aside on a wire rack to cool completely. Traditionally, this cake is unspiced, but you can add 1 tsp of mixed spice to make the basic mix suitable as a Christmas or birthday cake.

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