Vegan Plum Cake

I come from a fully Polish family. Some of my great childhood memories are baking Polish treats like Rogaliki, Babka, and Plum Cake! Beautiful blue plums are in season and bountiful right now. I picked up some local plums from the farmer’s market to bring you this amazing plum cake that tastes like a traditional European cake.

This cake is moist and sweet, with a sweet/tart finish from the plums. It’s also completely oil-free! I use light spelt flour in this recipe, but you could also use all-purpose flour if desired.

Makes: 9 Slices

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Bake Time: 55-58 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups light spelt, or all-purpose flour (organic if possible)
• 3/4 cup almond meal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 5 medium sized European or Blue plums (you will need 9 halves in total)
• powdered cane sugar for dusting, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment and set aside.
2. Shake the can of coconut milk before opening it. There may be a thick layer of cream and that’s completely normal. Try to shake it to mix it evenly. In a medium bowl, add the coconut milk, cane sugar, lemon juice, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
3.  In a large bowl sift together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. If you don’t have almond meal, you can make it really easily by blending almonds in a high-speed blender such as a vitamix or blendtec. Blend then almonds then measure out 3/4 cups of the meal and sift it into the bowl with the flour.
4. Add the liquid to the dry mix and whisk gently until combined, but do not over-mix the dough. Pour the dough into the baking pan.
5. Slice the plums in half lengthwise and remove the pits and stems. Distribute the 9 halves of the plums with the inside facing upwards, and place them gently on the top of the cake. You don’t want to press it down.
6. Bake the cake for 55-58 minutes, or until the top of the cake is nice and golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
7. Grab hold of the parchment and transfer the cake to a wire rack to allow it to cool completely. When it is cooled, sift some icing sugar on top if desired, but this is optional. Cut into 9 equal slices, serve, and thoroughly enjoy <3

This recipe was inspired by and adapted from Lazy Cat Kitchen’s Vegan German Plum Cake.

For personal meal plans or nutrition advice from a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, you can contact me at kathyrhn@gmail.com