Wood Pigeon
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Plum Sheet Cake
For this recipe, you need 1.5 kg of purple Italian prune plums, called Zwetschgen in German.
1. Make the streusel first
This takes about 30 minutes.
250 g all-purpose flour, equivalent to German Type 405
150 g cold butter, diced
150 g brown sugar
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
Combine the ingredients in a bowl. Use a fork to break the butter into small pieces and incorporate it into the dry ingredients. Then finish mixing it with a hand mixer, taking care not to let the mixture become warm.
Place the streusel in the refrigerator while you prepare the dough.
2. Make the dough
This takes about 30 minutes.
500 g all-purpose flour, equivalent to German Type 405
125 g sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 g vanilla sugar
75 g ground almonds
250 g cold butter, diced
3 eggs
First, combine the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla sugar, and ground almonds. Mix briefly on low speed. I use a KitchenAid K5-series mixer on Speed 1 with the paddle attachment.
Add the diced butter and mix until incorporated. Then add the eggs and continue mixing. You may increase the speed to Speed 2 if necessary.
Finally, switch to the dough hook and knead briefly on Speed 2–4, just until the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing.
Place the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the plums.
3. Prepare the plums
This takes about an hour.
Remove the pits from the plums and cut each plum into quarters.
The plums have a noticeable seam along one side, but it is easier to cut them open along the opposite side. The pit then comes out standing on its edge instead of sticking to one half of the plum. Cutting the plums into quarters also makes removing the pits quicker.
Place the prepared plums in the refrigerator until needed.
4. Roll out the dough
This takes about 30 minutes.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper. My pan measures 40 × 33 cm on the inside, so I roll the dough directly onto the parchment paper until it reaches those dimensions.
Trim away any excess dough along the edges. Roll the excess into thin strips and use them to form a raised edge around the pastry. This is important because it helps contain the plum juice while the cake bakes.
5. Add the plums and streusel
This takes about 20 minutes.
Arrange the plum pieces evenly over the dough. Then distribute the streusel evenly over the top using a spoon or fork. It may remind you of assembling a pizza.
One small culinary note:
If your Zwetschgen are especially juicy, sprinkling 1–2 tablespoons of ground almonds, breadcrumbs, or semolina over the dough before adding the plums can help absorb excess juice.
6. Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 180°C. If using a fan oven, use approximately 160–170°C.
7. Bake
Bake the cake for approximately 45 minutes at 180°C on the middle rack.
If the streusel becomes too brown before the pastry is fully baked, cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes.
8. Cool and serve
Allow the cake to cool for about an hour before cutting it into squares.
Once it is cool enough to handle, slide the cake—still on its parchment paper—off the baking pan and onto a clean sheet of cardboard or a large cutting board. This allows it to cool further and makes slicing
easier. It also protects your pan, table, or countertop from scratches.
Bon appétit!
Charles
For this recipe, you need 1.5 kg of purple Italian prune plums, called Zwetschgen in German.
1. Make the streusel first
This takes about 30 minutes.
250 g all-purpose flour, equivalent to German Type 405
150 g cold butter, diced
150 g brown sugar
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
Combine the ingredients in a bowl. Use a fork to break the butter into small pieces and incorporate it into the dry ingredients. Then finish mixing it with a hand mixer, taking care not to let the mixture become warm.
Place the streusel in the refrigerator while you prepare the dough.
2. Make the dough
This takes about 30 minutes.
500 g all-purpose flour, equivalent to German Type 405
125 g sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 g vanilla sugar
75 g ground almonds
250 g cold butter, diced
3 eggs
First, combine the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla sugar, and ground almonds. Mix briefly on low speed. I use a KitchenAid K5-series mixer on Speed 1 with the paddle attachment.
Add the diced butter and mix until incorporated. Then add the eggs and continue mixing. You may increase the speed to Speed 2 if necessary.
Finally, switch to the dough hook and knead briefly on Speed 2–4, just until the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing.
Place the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the plums.
3. Prepare the plums
This takes about an hour.
Remove the pits from the plums and cut each plum into quarters.
The plums have a noticeable seam along one side, but it is easier to cut them open along the opposite side. The pit then comes out standing on its edge instead of sticking to one half of the plum. Cutting the plums into quarters also makes removing the pits quicker.
Place the prepared plums in the refrigerator until needed.
4. Roll out the dough
This takes about 30 minutes.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper. My pan measures 40 × 33 cm on the inside, so I roll the dough directly onto the parchment paper until it reaches those dimensions.
Trim away any excess dough along the edges. Roll the excess into thin strips and use them to form a raised edge around the pastry. This is important because it helps contain the plum juice while the cake bakes.
5. Add the plums and streusel
This takes about 20 minutes.
Arrange the plum pieces evenly over the dough. Then distribute the streusel evenly over the top using a spoon or fork. It may remind you of assembling a pizza.
One small culinary note:
If your Zwetschgen are especially juicy, sprinkling 1–2 tablespoons of ground almonds, breadcrumbs, or semolina over the dough before adding the plums can help absorb excess juice.
6. Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 180°C. If using a fan oven, use approximately 160–170°C.
7. Bake
Bake the cake for approximately 45 minutes at 180°C on the middle rack.
If the streusel becomes too brown before the pastry is fully baked, cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes.
8. Cool and serve
Allow the cake to cool for about an hour before cutting it into squares.
Once it is cool enough to handle, slide the cake—still on its parchment paper—off the baking pan and onto a clean sheet of cardboard or a large cutting board. This allows it to cool further and makes slicing
easier. It also protects your pan, table, or countertop from scratches.
Bon appétit!
Charles