Served warm with custard or cold with a cuppa, this gorgeously fruity plum crumble cake is both versatile and scrumptious! A perfect weekend bake for the family.
Ever find it hard to decide between a pudding and a cake? Something to serve hot with custard, or cold with a cuppa? That was the quandary facing me, until I decided to combine both and make this scrumptiously fruity plum and almond crumble cake.
Dessert dilemma
We were expecting friends for lunch, and I couldn’t decide how to finish the meal. I love a bowl of steaming hot pudding with custard or ice-cream, but there was a good chance we would decide to wait awhile after our main course, and have our ‘afters’ later, with a cup of coffee or tea. What to do?
Problem solved!
This yummy plum crumble cake with its nutty almond topping neatly adapts itself to both purposes. Served warm, it basks under a blanket of custard and makes a superb pudding. Sliced into squares and served cold, it is a perfect accompaniment to a reviving cup of afternoon tea.
In fact, we gobbled up the leftovers as teatime treats and elevenses over the next couple of days.
Crumble cake – fruit and nuts
My daughter Kipper was very fond of this plum crumble cake, despite being largely ambivalent about plums. The only problem was that her school’s ‘no nuts’ rule meant that I couldn’t put squares of crumble cake into her lunchbox. I think she polished off her fair share at home though, so that’s OK.
Plum crumble cake
The fluffy sponge cake is flavoured with cinnamon, which I think goes wonderfully well with plums, and with almonds come to that. To make this delicious plum crumble cake, all you will need is:
- flour
- ground almonds
- baking powder
- ground cinnamon
- butter or margarine
- eggs
- brown sugar
- plums – of course!
Simply make a layer of luscious sponge, top with sliced ripe plums, and sprinkle delicious almond crumble over everything. Then bake and enjoy!
How to serve your plum crumble cake
Whether you eat it for dessert, or as part of a ‘tea’, you can serve your crumble cake with all kinds of toppings. As I mentioned before it’s terrific warm with a thick layer of glorious golden custard. However it’s also great with a dollop of whipped cream or clotted cream, or even a spoonful or two of thick natural yogurt.
Finally, my daughter Kipper is particularly fond of this served warm or hot, with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. There’s something about the contrast of temperatures, and the way that the melted ice-cream soaks into the sponge, that makes it truly scrumptious!
Weekend baking
This versatile plum crumble cake is a terrific bake for a weekend, and I shall certainly be making it again soon – it’s a dessert, cake and snack in one, and delicious every time!
Serves 8-10.
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Plum crumble cake with almonds
Ingredients
For the cake
- 100 g plain flour
- 100 g ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 100 g butter or dairy-free margarine
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 5-6 plums
For the crumble
- 25 g plain flour
- 25 g ground almonds
- 25 g margarine or butter
- 25 g brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 20cm (8 inch) square cake tin (or equivalent size rectangular or round tin) with baking parchment.
- Sift the flour into a bowl. Stir in the ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon, and set aside.
- Cream the margarine/butter and brown sugar together until fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs together with a little of the flour mixture. Fold in the rest of the flour until well combined.
- Scrape the mixture into the lined tin and spread to the edges.
- Carefully stone the plums and cut each one into 8 slices. Arrange the plum slices skin-side-down, in rows over the top of the cake batter.
- To make the crumble, rub the flour and ground almonds into the margarine/butter, then stir in the sugar. (Alternatively pulse all the crumble ingredients in a food processor.) Scatter the mixture evenly over the plums.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-60 minutes, until the crumble is browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin before serving warm or cold.
Nutrition
Crumble Cake Variations
You can make lots of different versions of this cake by swapping out the plums for other fruits, and replacing the almonds with nuts of your choice. For instance, in the photo below you can see what happened when I used peeled sliced pears instead of the plums, and ground hazelnuts instead of the almonds. It made a wonderfully autumnal crumble cake and everyone enjoyed it!
Some examples of other variations to try could include:
- apples and walnuts
- strawberries and pistachios
- mango and coconut – for a totally tropical treat!
In the photo below I substituted peeled, sliced pears for the plums and ground hazelnuts for the almonds. It made a wonderfully autumnal version of this delicious crumble cake! Why not give it a whirl?
More delicious recipes using fruit
If you enjoy fruity recipes, why not try this moist and zingy coconut lemon cake, this wonderfully autumnal apple and blackberry cake, this scrumptiously oaty pear and apple crumble cake, or these delicious griddled apricot crostini with goats cheese and honey.
I’m joining this recipe in with Bake of the Week, hosted by Casa Costello, and CookBlogShare, hosted this week by Recipes Made Easy.
Tracey
I would love to make this but don’t like Almonds. If I leave the nuts out how will i adjust the recipe.
Thankyou
Helen
Hi Tracey. I’m not sure you could leave out the nuts in this recipe as they make up a good proportion of both the cake batter and the crumble topping. However you might like my recipe for blackberry & apple crumble cake instead, which has no nuts in the batter, and only optional nuts in the crumble. You could try that recipe and use plums instead of the blackberry and apple? I hope you have fun baking! All the best, Helen.
Janice
Oh this is very much my kind of bake, double purpose for dessert and snacks!
Alena
I made it yesterday as my plum tree is overflowing with plums:) It turned out great & we all loved it. Thank you for sharing
Helen
So glad you enjoyed it Alena! It’s a fab way to use seasonal produce 🙂
Julie McPherson
Given the choice between pudding and dessert, I always opt for pudding so this is definitely my sort of cake. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor.
Alma Vorrei
Fabulous – a bit messy to make and it did take 15mins longer to cook but very very yummy. Will make again
Helen
Thanks Alma – glad you enjoyed it, and were able to adjust the cooking time. I think that ovens/tins/other conditions can sometimes make quite a difference to the timing, but always worth it for something yummy in the end!
Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet
With the erratic weather we’re experiencing, I don’t blame you for not being able to make your mind up. Whatever you call it, it looks like a fabulous sweet ending to any meal.
Helen
Thanks Michelle 🙂
Yes, it’s a great dessert after a meal, but I love a sneaky slice with a cuppa sometimes too!
choclette
I do love a good crumble cake and this looks delicious. I sort of understand why a school might not want nuts, but gosh, that does seem a bit restrictive.
Helen
Thanks Choclette. I think most schools are nut-free these days, but extremely severe (potentially deadly) allergies to nuts do seem to be much more common than I ever remember from my childhood. I wonder what we are doing differently now?
Jacqueline
A classic combination and it looks so good. Now I want custard with mine. Hot custard, none of this cold custard nonsense. Shared!
Helen
Agreed – custard should always be hot! Thanks Jac ?
jenny paulin
I love a crumble cake as it combines a comfort food pudding with a cake – what’s not to love? pear and almond go so well together too. Thank you for linking up to #Bakeoftheweek x
Helen
Thanks Jenny – that’s why I love them too. Why choose pudding or cake when you can have both!
Jacqui Bellefontaine
This is so my kinda recipe. If I had plums in the house I would be in the kitchen right now making it as it looks absolutely delicious.
Thank you for sharing on #CookBlogShare
Helen
Thanks Jacqui! I just bought another punnet of plums and I have to admit I’m quite tempted to make another one 🙂
Monika Dabrowski
This is a lovely cake and I especially like the proportions you’ve used, so easy to remember:)
Helen
You know, I hadn’t even noticed!! Although I think I do things like that unconsciously – I just like recipes to be ‘orderly’ ?
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
I know just what you mean about the pudding and cake quandry Helen, but this sounds to be the perfect option. I just love the crumble topping too – it sounds absolutely delicious. #CookBlogShare
Angela x
Helen
Thanks Angela. I’m a big crumble fan too. Especially if there’s also custard involved….