German Plum Cake (with Hazelnut Crumble)

Name: German Plum Cake (with Hazelnut Crumble)
Prep time: 2 h 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 3 h
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: 1000g plums; 400g spelt flour; 100g butter substitute; 200g dates (8 Medjool dates); 200ml oat milk; One bag of dry yeast; 180g spelt flour; 80g butter substitute; 80ml maple syrup; 80g ground hazelnuts; 40g chopped hazelnuts; 0,5 tsp ceylon cinnamon; Pinch of salt

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The German plum cake is served on a patterned plate. Attached is a napkin with a cake fork. Behind it a cake serving plate with more pieces of german plum cake. Around it, there are plums and hazelnuts on a patterned surface.

A seasonal delicacy is on the cake table: the German plum cake! The family is always delighted with this juicy fruit cake from the tray. It’s made from a yeast dough that is covered with a lot of plums. I didn’t use refined sugar but my favorite sweetener, Medjool dates. This year, I spiced it up with a hazelnut crumble, which was a great idea. You should try this one! It is simple to make, and all you need is a bit of time to let the yeast grow and to prepare the plums!

Ingredients for making German Plum Cake:

Bowls with fresh plums, spelt flour, dates, butter substitute, dry yeast and vanilla sugar stand on a patterned surface. Before that, a wooden spoon with a little salt. In the background a jug with oat milk.

Dough:

Plums
Spelt flour
Butter substitute
Dates
Oat milk
Dry yeast

Bowls with flour, ground hazelnuts, butter substitute, maple syrup and whole hazelnuts stand on a patterned surface. In front of it are two different wooden spoons filled with Ceylon cinnamon and salt.

Crumble:

Spelt flour
Butter substitute
Maple syrup
Ground hazelnuts
Chopped hazelnuts
Ceylon cinnamon
Pinch of salt

The crumble is optional. Even without it, this German plum cake is still tasting delicious.

How to make German Plum Cake:

Making the Yeast Dough and Preparing the Plums:

At first, add the oat milk in a saucepan and warm it just a little, don’t let it come to a boil. Now, chop the dates, add them, and let them soak. Then, blend the mixture until no pieces of dates are visible.

Chopped dates lie on a wooden cutting board. There is a large kitchen knife in the background.

The hand blender purees the mixture in the tall stainless steel pot. The pot stands on a stainless steel base.

Choose a large mixing bowl, as our yeast dough will at least double in size! Pour our freshly warm blended sweet mixture, add the dry yeast, let it dissolve, and then add the pieces of butter substitute and the flour. I like to knead the dough with my hands – if it gets too sticky, sprinkle a little more flour over it. Start kneading until you feel that all the butter pieces have dissolved and you have an elastic dough.

Make it Comfortable for the Yeast:

I covered the bowl with a clean, slightly dampened kitchen towel (the dough surface shouldn’t dry out) and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours until it has doubled in volume. In the summer season, it is warm enough at room temperature – yes, you have to make it comfortable for the yeast (it’s a living unicellular fungus) so it can multiply and grow! If it is too cool in your room, put the yeast dough in the preheated oven at maximum 30°C (90°F). The yeast will feel comfortable and can rise well. I have had good results with dry yeast, but you can also use fresh yeast. In that case, add the fresh yeast to the oat milk mixture and let it dissolve.

In the meantime, we can prepare the plums. Wash them, remove the pit, and cut every fruit into quarters.

A large glass bowl with quartered plums stands on a patterned surface.

You can prepare a baking tray when the dough has risen nicely.

The freshly kneaded yeast dough lies in a stainless steel bowl. The bowl stands on a stainless steel base.

After its resting period, the risen yeast dough lies in a stainless steel bowl. The bowl stands on a stainless steel base.

Spread the dough evenly on the tray with your hands until you have a flat dough. Now, the yeast needs another rest for 20 minutes.

It’s time to preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

The yeast dough is completely spread out on the baking paper on size of the oven baking tray.

The yeast dough is completely covered with quartered plums. The yeast dough is spread out on baking paper the size of the oven baking tray.

After the dough has risen again after the resting time, we can take care of to the plums. Try to fully cover the dough with fruit. When topping the dough with the plums, place the quartered fruit with the skin side down. The plum peel prevents the dough from becoming soggy so quickly due to fruit juice.

Making the Hazelnut Crumble:

Start to prepare the crumbles while the yeast dough is rising.

Cut the butter substitute into pieces and let it soften at room temperature. Now, put the butter and all other ingredients in a bowl and knead by hand until we can form a round dough ball.

In a large stainless steel bowl is the mixture for the crumble dough - with maple syrup, ground hazelnuts, chopped hazelnuts, ceylon cinnamon.

Two hands in a large stainless steel bowl begin to knead the ingredients for the crumble dough together.

The dough feels completely different than the yeast dough; it should be dry and crumbly. Place them on a plate and let the dough ball rest in the fridge for 30 minutes so the starch can settle and the fat becomes hard – you can make great crumbles from it!

Then we take the dough ball, divide it in half, and crumble it by fingers all over our plum cake.

Two hands break the dough ball for the crumble over the already prepared plum cake on the baking tray.

The German plum cake with hazelnut crumbles on baking paper on the oven baking tray before baking.

Finally, we put the plum cake in the oven for 35 minutes at 180°C (350°F)top/bottom heat (160 °C/320°F circulating air).

Let it cool down a bit, and then serve it still warm! It’s delicious with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

The German plum cake is served on a patterned plate. Attached is a napkin with a cake fork. Behind it, in the blur, a cake serving plate with more pieces of german plum cake. Around it, there are plums and hazelnuts on a patterned surface.

German Plum Cake FAQ:

Can you freeze the cake?

The german plum cake can be frozen and stored for up to 6 months.

I hope you enjoyed this German plum cake recipe. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

German Plum Cake (with Hazelnut Crumble)