This Yogurt Plum Cake is tender, delicious, and also extremely easy to make. The cake is made with yogurt, flavored simply with vanilla and loaded with four whole plums. It’s perfect for tea time or as a snack!
This cake is like an upside down plum cake except you don’t have to invert the cake because the fruits are added on top – just like this pear almond cake! I absolutely love the way the plum slices are baked into the fluffy vanilla cake, making it effortlessly beautiful.
Serve this plum yogurt cake with a dusting of powdered sugar or with a dollop of whipped cream for tea time, or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for a more decadent dessert. I promise you, everyone in your household will enjoy it!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this cake
If you love a versatile cake like I do, then you will for sure love this easy Yogurt Plum Cake recipe. And what’s not to love?
- Simple ingredients
- Super easy to make – no stand mixer required!
- Great way to use up leftover yogurt
- Delicious buttery cake with tender crumbs
- Perfect as a dessert, a snack, or even breakfast!
- Beautiful enough to serve guests at dinner
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Plums – use medium to large size plums, small plums will work but the slices may not cover the entire surface of the cake. Try to use ripe but firm plums so the slices stay intact and the plums don’t add too much extra liquid to the cake.
- Yogurt – plain yogurt works best in this recipe. You could use Greek or regular plain yogurt. I’ve used full fat, 2%, and nonfat Greek yogurt, as well as flavored Greek yogurt in this recipe. Full fat is preferred for a richer cake. You could also substitute sour cream.
- Butter – I used unsalted butter. If you only have unsalted butter, omit the salt called for in the recipe.
- Eggs – two whole eggs to bind the ingredients.
- Vanilla – always use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor. You could also use almond extract here to make it a lovely plum almond yogurt cake.
- Sugar – I used granulated sugar here, but brown sugar will work too.
- Flour – I used all purpose flour but you could also use cake flour for an even more tender cake. You can use self-rising flour too, just omit the baking powder but make sure to still add baking soda.
- Leavening agents – I use both baking soda and baking powder. The baking soda will be activated by the acidity in the yogurt. And the baking powder will give it additional lift while in the oven.
- Salt – I always use kosher salt in all my recipes. If using table salt, use ½ to ⅔ as much.
How to make Yogurt Plum Cake
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
First, cut up the plums
I cut up 3 of the plums into thin half moon slices. And then dice the last plum as well as any end bits from the first 3 plums into bite size pieces. I used the plum slices to decorate the top of the cake before baking and folded the small pieces into the cake batter.
Make the cake
Use a large mixing bowl for the wet ingredients. You want to add room temperature yogurt and eggs to the cooled melted butter and vanilla. Then beat until combined and creamy.
In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients except salt and sugar. Salt and sugar just get whisked into the dry ingredient mixture since they won’t go through a fine mesh sieve. Add dry to wet and fold until just combined.
Now add the plum pieces to the cake batter and fold to distribute evenly.
Transfer the cake batter to a buttered and lined cake pan, even out the top with a spatula. Arrange the plum slices on top per photo below or however you wish. Bake until the top is golden brown and the cake is cooked through.
Note: If you want to make this a one bowl cake, you can beat the sugar and salt into the wet ingredients first. And then sift the remaining dry ingredients directly into the wet ingredients and fold.
Variations
Although I haven’t made any of these variations, I know this cake will work with any stone fruits such as peaches, nectarines, apricots. You could also try strawberries for Spring and apples for Autumn.
Try adding lemon zest or orange zest to the cake for a fresh flavor. If you like warmer flavors, add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to the cake.
More baker’s tips
- Don’t have a square baking pan? An 8″ or 9″ round cake pan will also work for this recipe. You may need to adjust bake time a bit.
- Why we use yogurt in this cake – I love adding yogurt to a cake. Similar to buttermilk, it is acidic which reacts with baking soda to make the cake light and fluffy, adds a nice tanginess to the cake, and makes the cake very moist and tender.
- More on the type of yogurt – Like I mentioned above, I prefer plain full fat yogurt for this cake for the best flavor and richness. The style of yogurt doesn’t make a difference, I’ve used Greek yogurt and regular plain yogurt. In fact, I’ve also used flavored yogurt to test this cake, which is just fine if you want to get rid of whatever yogurt you have in your fridge but it does impart a light flavor to it.
- More on the type of plums – I’ve tested this recipe with red flesh plums as well as yellow flesh plums. They both work find, though the red ones look better due to the color contrast on the cake.
- How ripe should your plums be – Be sure to choose large size plums, ripe but firm. If the plums are too soft, the slices may not stay intact when you slice them and they could add too much liquid to the cake.
- Peeling your plums – You can but there is no need to peel your plums, the skin is very thin anyway so it’s just not necessary.
Storage
Room temperature: This yogurt plum cake can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If the weather is particularly warm, I would recommend refrigerating the cake once it is cooled.
Refrigerator: Refrigerated cake will last up to 1 week.
Freezer: You can freeze this cake though I usually preferred not to freeze cakes with fruits since the fruits can turn a bit soggy once thawed.
I usually like to freeze the individual slices of cake so I can defrost just one or two pieces to enjoy at a time. Be sure to wrap each piece tightly in plastic and store in a freezer bag. Frozen cake will last 3-4 months.
FAQs
I’ve used all-purpose gluten free flour in some recipes successfully. I think it would work for this cake. You could also try to make it with almond flour but I would follow the recipe for this Pear Almond Cake instead, just use plums instead of pears.
You’ll need to use dairy free yogurt and replace butter with oil. When using oil, use ¾ as much. So this recipe calls for 4 oz of butter, you would use 3 oz of oil. You’ll want to use a flavorless oil like canola or vegetable oil or a mild olive oil. Note that if you make this cake dairy free, it won’t taste as rich.
More easy and delicious cakes
- Flourless Orange Upside Down Cake
- Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Olive Oil Chocolate Cake
- Banana Bundt Cake
- Mascarpone Mixed Berry Cake
📖 Recipe card
Yogurt Plum Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (180 g)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (133 g)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup yogurt (233 g, room temperature)
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 4 oz unsalted butter (114 g, melted & cooled)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 medium plums
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and line a square 8”x8” baking pan with parchment paper.
- Cut 3 of the 4 plums into thin slices and cut the last plum into bite size pieces.
- Add yogurt, eggs, melted butter and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined and creamy.
- Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a small mixing bowl. Add kosher salt and sugar. Stir to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and fold until just combined.
- Toss in the plum pieces and fold to distribute evenly.
- Transfer cake batter to the prepared baking pan. Arrange the plum slices on top of the batter.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 – 15 minutes before removing it from the pan and let it cool further on a wire rack.
Notes
- Any type of yogurt would work with this recipe. I’ve used full fat Greek yogurt, 2%, non fat, as well as flavored Greek yogurt. If using flavored yogurt, vanilla works best but any mild flavor would work as well.
- Sour cream can be used in place of yogurt.
- You can also use a 9″ round cake pan for this recipe.
Nutrition
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