Marzipan Cake with Plums
Marzipan Plum Cake
Finding marzipan locally for Christmas baking in 2016 was impossible. I got in early last year and bought a couple of rolls of the almond confection not knowing exactly what our celebrations and my cooking plans would entail. I was allocated vegetable preparation duty.
I could have just nibbled my way through the marzipan, but a long unexplored fascination with recipes that incorporate marzipan into a cake batter prompted a decision to take advantage of the summer stone fruit season and try a marzipan cake with plums, after all, plums and almonds are closely related.
With a scary number of years of cooking experience behind me I’ve developed the confidence to cautiously put together a cake batter by feel. There’s alchemy in the incorporation of butter sugar eggs flour that when baked, makes cake. It’s about getting the proportions of ingredients right so that the crumb rises and holds, is moist enough to cut without crumbling, but most importantly develops a flavour and mouth feel that leaves you wanting more.
This cake ticks all those boxes.
Marzipan Plum Cake
Marzipan Cake with Plums
170g plain flour
30g cornflour
100g almond meal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
200g good quality almond paste (I used Odense)
150g castor sugar
200g butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon almond essence
3 or 4 large blood plums, deseeded and thickly sliced into wedges
2 tablespoons flaked almonds
Grease a 28cm round springform pan and line with baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 160C fan forced.
Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk together to combine.
Grate the marzipan into a mixing bowl, add the sugar then beat on a medium speed until the marzipan is broken up. This will take a few minutes.
With the mixer running, add the butter a little at a time, continuously beating until the mixture is homogenous.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the essence.
Add the dry ingredients then mix to a smooth batter.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin then arrange the wedges of plum in a circle on the top.
Scatter the flaked almonds over the top.
Bake in the cake in the centre of the oven until cooked when tested with a skewer, about 50 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before releasing the spring.
Store in an airtight container.
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19 comments on “Marzipan Cake with Plums”
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Creative Commons Copyright Licence
Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
Saved this for future reference.. Thanks for sharing!:)
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So yummy! Would love to grab a piece!
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My mother used to bake without measuring anything bar by ‘feel’. She still makes an occasional brown bread using this method. I cook this way and backtrack to write up my recipes. However, any baking attempt using experience and feel end up failures.
Beautiful plum cake.
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But you’re able to produce such beautiful meat dishes Conor, let someone else make dessert
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Thanks for sharing Marzipan Cake with Plums recipe i would try it..
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Plum cake is always wonderful — adding marzipan would be even more wonderful! I’ve tried a recipe for a crumble that incorporates marzipan into the topping, too. Just great with fruit.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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Thanks Mae, adding marzipan to crumble is an idea worth trying
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Absolutely beautiful! Saving for the holidays.
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Thanks Mimi, marzipan and plums are delicious together
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I so admire your discipline. That marzipan would never survive around here. This plum cake sounds like a worthy use of this precious ingredient, even if I have to delay buying it until minutes before I begin preparing the cake. 🙂
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I’m OK as long as the package stays sealed as there is no such thing as a tiny taste. No sure why but there are supply issues, I have to buy it when I see it
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I see what you mean Sandra- great minds think alike.
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I’m with you ladies, love marzipan. Recently saw a demo about making your own, so might give that a try one day. I especially love Haigh’s dark chocolate covered marzipan, too! This cake sounds delicious, but I’m not sure the plums we get here in Alice are worthy of it. They are mostly quite sour. Thanks Sandra.
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All of it, 200g. It becomes part of the cake batter
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I like the sound of this cake too, Sandra. How much marzipan do I grate in.
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Sorry Mary my reply last night somehow became a comment. All of the marzipan goes into the batter, it subtly flavours the cake
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People have always considered me weird for adoring marzipan, so it’s lovely to discover there are others out there who appreciate this delicious confection. Love the sound of this cake; I must see if plums are available when I get home!
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Thanks Kate. Hopefully the late varieties are still around. Marzipan lovers unite
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Hear, hear!
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