These past few weeks I’ve been running around quite a lot: baking for a wedding, a dinner event at Meatingraum, one week of yoga in Santorini, and a week of hiking with my aunt in the Dolomites. While these were amazing experiences, I was so busy that I almost missed this year’s plum season.
After all the traveling, I finally spent a weekend in Munich and had time to bake. And when thinking about what to make, I immediately thought of plums. After last year’s chai-spiced upside down cake, I was looking for another recipe that is easy to make and focuses on the flavor of the plums. I turned to one of my favorite blogs Eat in my kitchen and found this hazelnut plum cake. The combination of hazelnuts, cinnamon, and plums sounded incredibly delicious. And the fact that it uses buckwheat flour makes this suitable for anyone who follows a gluten-free diet.
Instead of using ground hazelnuts, I roasted whole hazelnuts and then grind them in a food processor. I believe it adds a nuttier flavor to the cake. But if you want to save some time, you can skip this and use store-bought ground hazelnuts.
Plums are still in season for a few more weeks, so take advantage of this delicious fruit and make this hazelnut plum cake!
Have fun baking!
Love,
Marion
Hazelnut plum cake
A gluten-free plum cake with hazelnuts, buckwheat flour, cinnamon and juicy plums.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 225g (8 ounces) hazelnuts or ground hazelnuts
- 225g (8 ounces) buckwheat flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 organic free-range eggs
- Pinch of salt
- 250g (9 ounces) soft butter
- 150g (3/4 cup) raw cane sugar
- 600g (1 1/2 pounds) plums, pitted and halved
- For the topping:
- 2 tablespoons raw cane sugar sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and grease a 26cm (10 inch) springform pan.
- Step 2 Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. When using ground hazelnuts, you can skip this step.
- Step 3 Divide the eggs and beat the egg whites and salt until stiff.
- Step 4 In a separate bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat until fluffy and pale. Add the egg yolks, one at a time until well incorporated.
- Step 5 Once the hazelnuts are cool, place them in a food processor and pulse until a flour forms. Combine with buckwheat flour, cinnamon, and baking powder.
- Step 6 Using a spatula, gently fold a third of the dry mixture and the egg whites into the butter and sugar mixture. Repeat two more times until all the mixture is well incorporated.
- Step 7 Fill the mixture into the prepared springform pan and level it off. Now place the plums on top of the cake, pushing them gently into the dough.
- Step 8 For the topping, combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle half of it over the cake.
- Step 9 Bake for about 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Step 10 Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes before removing it from the tin. You can eat it while still slightly warm (my preference) or once it’s completely cool.
