Plum, pistachio & lemon cake – nutty, not-too-sweet and studded with juicy plums. Top with a lemon glaze and serve with a dollop of thick greek yogurt. Jump to Recipe
I’m now back in Melbourne and have just started a psychiatry rotation for the start of my fourth year of medical school. Holidays are most certainly over! Personality disorders came up in lectures the other day, and one in particular struck a chord with us. The Narcissistic Personality Disorder criteria includes “has a grandiose sense of self importance (e.g. exaggerates achievements and talents)”; is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance”; “believes that he or she is “special” and unique”; “requires excessive admiration”; “has a sense of entitlement”; “lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings ands needs of others”; “is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her”. Ring a bell? Maybe like someone that might have just been elected to one of the most powerful positions in the world? The DSM-V criteria also states that this includes “becoming irritated when others fail to assist in their “very important work””(i.e. THE MEDIA), or “they may expect their arrival to be greeted with great fanfare” (i.e. crowd size preoccupations, anyone?). Vulnerability in self-esteem also makes these individuals very sensitive to “injury” from criticism and defeat. I can’t spell it out any more clearly than this : https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/828642511698669569
I didn’t set out intending this post to be politically focussed, but it is increasingly difficult to ignore the disturbing events happening in the US. Blogging for me usually means writing about topics that have been on my mind and certain experiences or backstories relevant to a particular recipe, but it would feel like burying my head in the sand to continue without mention of today’s current events. From the restrictions on funding to international aid organisations offering birth control, to the incomprehensible travel ban and the random, disorganised tweeting by the president himself – as the South Park & Book of Morman writers said, “satire has become reality”. To be honest, the rampant lying (or “alternative truth”, sorry) is the scariest part. Anecdotally, a friends employee in Boston told her that she was voting for Trump because “Hillary Clinton is a Muslim”. She fully, entirely believed this to be true. As a university student with access to and interest in news, I can hardly believe it – but for many voters, these news stories circulated by word of mouth, facebook or extremist websites are taken as gospel.
Thousands of kilometres away in the southern hemisphere summer as a non-US voter, it can all feel quite far away – like watching a train wreck in slow motion, relatively powerless to take any sort of action. However, we CAN make changes and raise awareness from afar, as the massive Women’s Marches around the world demonstrated. And closer to home, Australia in particular has huge changes to make in regard to its illegal and cruel off-shore refugee prisons – asking Donald Trump to take asylum-seekers is just deferred responsibility and an easy out.
In the food blogging corner of the world, a whole bunch of amazing people have written #immigrantfoodstories to show support for immigrants. Check out this post by Kimberley Hasselbrink of The Year in Food for links to these stories and follow the hashtag on social media channels.
I have no real way to segue that to this cake, I have to admit. I’m currently typing this out in the sun outside the hospital cafeteria, and am kind of wishing a piece of this plum, pistachio and lemon cake would materialise in front of me – though that would place me in the psych ward with the patients I’m currently seeing, so maybe not. I’m not a big fan of raw pistachios themselves (too salty + they get in your teeth – is that just me?) but I LOVE them in baking. If you haven’t tried this easy apricot and pistachio slice yet, give that a go too. Ripe plums are best – the 45 minutes in the oven gives them time to soften and gently sink, melding into the surrounding cake batter. It’s not too sweet- more nutty, moist and tangy with plums and freshly grated lemon zest. Perfect with a dollop of greek yogurt and your morning coffee.
Nutty, not-too-sweet and studded with juicy plums. Top with a lemon glaze and serve with a dollop of thick greek yogurt. Adapted from Ottolenghi
- 185 g butter, at room temperature (6.5 oz)
- 1 cup caster sugar (220g / 7.75 oz)
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 120 g ground almonds (4.25 oz /1 1/4 cup)
- 120 g pistachios (4.25 oz / 1 cup)
- 90 g plain flour (3.25oz) / 3/4 cup
- finely grated zest 1 lemon
- 10-12 ripe plums , halved and stoned
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 1-2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped pistachios for topping
- Thick greek yogurt to serve
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Preheat oven to 175°C, and grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin with baking paper.
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In a food processor or blender, blitz the pistachios to a fine meal (see photo for texture).
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Cream butter and caster sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Fold through the ground almonds, finely ground pistachios, all-purpose flour, baking powder, vanilla and lemon zest.
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Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the surface. Top with plum halves, cut side up (even though one of the photos makes it look a bit like the plums are on the bottom, that was just to show how many to use - they go on top of the batter!)
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Bake for 45-50min or until a skewer inserted comes out just clean. Leave in the tin to cool.
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To glaze, mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake and top with chopped pistachios.
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Serve with greek yogurt.
It is a scary state of affairs here in the U.S. and I fear for the turmoil that we will be facing now and in the years to come. As for the travel “ban”. . .well my husband was born in one of the so called “banned” countries and while he has been a U.S. citizen ever since he was a wee sprout, I still fear that if he leaves the country on business he will not be allowed back in. He, himself, is not worried. I guess he still has faith.
Anyhow, this cake looks absolutely delicious. It’s reminding me how much I really am missing stone fruit season.
Wow Lynn that must be so tough for you and your husband at the moment, even if he isn’t worried. It’s an added stress that is completely undeserved and unnecessary!
Wow! Your course material is so telling – and frightening all at the same time. I have to say, that must be an incredibly interesting thing to study right now given the current events. I totally understand how difficult it is to talk just about food these days! So glad you shared your thoughts.
On a better note, this cake looks so fabulous! I love the combination of pistachio and lemon, and the addition of plums is brilliant. Can’t wait to get my hands on some good plums in the coming months.
Glad I’m not the only one who feels food difficult to talk about at the moment! Thanks Laura x
even in the states, i feel a little helpless. it seems the only things we can do involve marching, donating, calling senators, getting lost in twitter comments that make no sense. calling my senators feels fruitless given that they’re in safe (overwhelmingly one-sided) states, and i can’t fathom senators like richard burr, who took calls from his constituents asking him to block the nominee for secretary of education as some sort of conspiracy (and so he voted for the nominee).
on a nicer note, this cake sounds amazing, and if i really wanted to over-analyze things, i’d mention how the sweet-tart nature of the cake mirrors the current political and social environment. tart for obvious reasons, but kind of sweet too; there are so many people who are mobilizing and speaking up and wanting to help, and that’s more inspiring than anything else.
That’s crazy about Richard Burr! It must be so infuriating to see everybody marching, donating and calling senators with no change. Hopefully with continued action the tide of public opinion will turn further against trump and his crazy cabinet nominees (so little experience, and they’re running the US?!). and hahahaha I love your analysis of the cake flavours – the show of empathy and solidarity in our communities is so heartening.
beautiful! this cake looks so most and delicious. i love that you used plums too, i have so many right now! Xx
Thanks Thalia! Plums are so cheap at the moment, it’s amazing – I’ve been making a plum compote to add to my bircher in the mornings, and plum pie is very tempting!
The Narcissistic Personality Disorder seems to be an accurate diagnosis of the person in question. Here in Canada, it seems all too scarily close.
This cake looks lip-smacking! Can’t wait for summer and plums to try it.
Scarily accurate, I have to say! Thanks Jenny x
A brilliant post. None of us can afford to be quiet any longer. None of us. So I will make your beautiful cake recipe and have a moment of joy. And I will share it with friends and that will be another moment. I thank you for that and for speaking out.
Thanks Susan, it is great to have your support on this – I agree that it is so important to speak out. Would love to know what you think of the cake if you give it a go – cake and coffee with friends is my favourite way to spend a morning as well.
The very last thing I want to see on a food blog is politics. The last thing.
I’m sorry you feel that way Mimi. I did not intend to offend – this is my blog and thus a place where I can write freely. As you can see from previous posts, I don’t always stick to food.
No offense – just seeking pleasant and positive.
This cake is dreamy. Now when plums are actually in season here haha I’ll be sure to make this beauty!
Thanks Fatimah! Would love to know what you think if you give it a go 🙂
So enlightening… I appreciate the thoughts you have shared. I find myself trying to stay upbeat in my own writing, and yet it is a disconnect from the world we are living in right now with our state of affairs. Today, I felt like creating an elizabeth warren ‘legit’ cake. I hope humor will carry me through. I loved reading this post as it makes me feel like I am with so many others who feel the same way. On a lighter note, this apricot plum cake is a showstopper.
Thanks Cindy – I’m glad I’m not the only one out there who finds it difficult to stay bright and ‘food focussed’ in blog posts at the moment! and YES you should make that cake! Sounds amazing.
bahahaha of course trump is like, the perfect definition of the narcissistic personality disorder. of course.
stunning cake, btw. xo
uh huh, textbook case. the recent news about his obsession with cable tv (and subsequent twitter responses) is classic.
thanks Michelle!
Stunning cake!! Too bad we are buried in dead winter and I don’t see plums anywhere in sight. totally in love with the combination:)
Thanks Maria!
Incredible! This looks so good! Defs going to give it a go once summer comes round in nyc… or I could just make it now! haha.
I totally get you about being helpless – its really scary being in America atm.
xx
You should give it a go, the fam would love it! Loving all your snaps from NZ at the moment – makes me wish I was by the beach.
xx
Big snow storm here in NYC today — I have so much summer produce envy right now! Would love me some plums and some of this gorgeous cake
Crazy to think you guys are being snowed in while it is 40+ degrees in most of Australia! Wish I could send you a slice of cake x
I just harvested our plum tree in the garden and got 72 kilos worth of fruit.WHAT TO DO??!! And then you present me with this beautiful cake which is a beautiful use for them!! Thanks claudia 🙂
WHAAAAT that’s amazing!!! 72 kilos – man you have a lot of plums on your hands. You’ll have to start jarring them to last you all winter! And plum pie, plum cakes, plum tarts, poached plums… enjoy them!!
Every time I see our new president, Narcissistic Personality Disorder is the first thing that comes to mind. I’m so terrified right now. I’ve been frozen in panic. I appreciate your thoughts and willingness to be open about them.
Thanks Jennifer – it felt a little fake and forced to NOT talk about it, to be honest, since it is the once thing dominating our current world and therefore conversation topics. I can’t imagine how much scarier it must be as a US citizen – I feel a bit sheltered watching it unfold from the safety of NZ!
Whoa, this looks seriously delicious! Must pin for later!!! <3 – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
Thanks!
It’s interesting you bring the psychological side of this up, because I was just listening to a podcast about it! It’s kind of frightening realizing that our president is someone who has all these complexes and is running the country, oy! For now, I’m going to bury myself in cake and wish for better time to come. xo
So frightening! I was reading an article today about how the majority of his tweets are in response to cable TV, which is where he gets most of his information from – so crazy that a president is obsessed with cable news and ratings rather than actually running the country.
And yes, at least cake and coffee hasn’t changed! x
It’s actually so interesting that you had a chance to make sense of Orange-is-the-new-Black’s personality trough your studies! It all feels very theatrical to watch the situation unfold from countries that are not the US, except it is all real. But I really believe the people can always do something (as long as we remember that all the BS going on on Facebook is, in fact, BS) 🙂
It’s fascinating and scary at once – he’s almost a textbook example! I know, I feel like if everyone out there, which must be billions of us, watching this in horror actually did something we would see changes. Thanks Valentina!
It’s such a scary world we live in, and although I’m not in the US, I’m as close as one can be. Sometimes I look at it all and just think “won’t this farce just end?”, but then I realise it’s not a joke or pretend, and all this has real consequences to real people. The only solace I can find, is seeing how racists now out themselves as racists, which is helpful to those who seek justice and support the obsessed in their fight. Beautiful cake, though, and a such a beautiful movement to be a part of. xox
I agree, it is scary! Especially when you wake up in the morning a little worried to look at the news because WHO KNOWS what might have happened overnight. Thanks Sophia x
This cake looks fabulous – I might have to make one ASAP! It’s easy to pretend here in NZ that it’s not actually real because it’s too scary to accept. I remember during the election when the things he would say would make me feel physically queasy and now it’s exhausting to read about ALL THE THINGS.
What a beautiful cake! Love the combination of plums and pistachios!
I for one thank you for bringing up politics. Im the daughter of refugees and I live in the U.S. and honestly the barrage of idiotic and dangerous rhetoric coming from the trump administration is so hard to deal with. So for me, yeah this current political climate isnt positive but reading from people who speak up, even when politics isnt their niche for their blog, is very positive for me. I respect those who do. So thanks for all the amazing recipes + this post especially.
Lilly
Instagram: @kitchensister
Hi Claudia, thank you so much for posting this recipe, the cake is just delicious. Quite simple yet with some rich textures and flavours. I first made it for a work charity bake a few months ago. People are still coming up to me and asking when I’ll make “that cake” again. So I have one ready for a friend’s birthday now and another one pending for the hungry work gang! As for all the crazy Trump debacles still raging on, am right with you, and nick naming this cake the Plums for Postive Politics Pudding. Each time I bake it (and in between) I’ll think “Can I do anything to campaign against Trump-style policies?” Sounds worthy but we need decent cake to get the world through this. Keep posting, all the best, Cath, London, UK
I made this cake last night and it was delicious. Very dense, so it was definitely better for breakfast than dessert. I think I needed to sink my plums more to get that uneven effect, but it still looked beautiful.
Oh that is great to hear Tamar! It is definitely a dense, fruity cake rather than a light tea cake – glad you enjoyed it.
Ground almonds as in almond butter?
Can’t wait to make this, we just picked plums from our tree and wanted to try something new.
hi Lissa! Ground almonds as in almond meal – sorry for the confusion! Will add that to the recipe. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Pictures show plums in bottom/first but instructions say on top? Please clarify.
Hi Deb, the plums go on top of the cake batter. Apologies for the confusing photograph!
This recipe looks gorgeous! Would you be able to advise as to whether the 175C is for a fan oven or not please? Want to double check before I give it a go. Thanks!
Hi Philippa, thank you! No that isn’t in a fan oven – if you are using a fan oven, just make sure you check it regularly! Hope it goes well for you!
I made this cake yesterday to use the blood plums I picked from a tree in our community garden and I had a lemon from a friend’s tree. I didn’t have enough pistachios so I replaced the pistachio meal with almond meal and used the pistachios I had for the top. It turned out to be a very pretty, very soft and extremely delicious cake. Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks Bek, so glad you enjoyed it!! That’s amazing that you had local plums and lemons to use. Thanks for letting me know! x
can you make this recipe with tinned plums?
I haven’t personally used tin plums – my concern would be that it might be too wet and the plums could sink, but it might work – you could definitely give it a try. It would also work with frozen berries (boysenberries or blackberries would be lovely), other stonefruit like apricots, or rhubarb (chop into 2cm segments then stir through the cake). Hope that helps!
This cake is heavenly delicious!
Thanks Kristine!
What a gorgeous cake! Plums are in season now. I’ll pick some up tonight on my way home to make your cake!
Hi there!
This cake is beautiful and I currently have it in the oven!
its been in the oven about an hour now and the center still has not set, my guess is because of the juice coming off of the fruit as it bakes thats adding moisture.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Will my cake be dry?
Hi Sarah, sorry about the late reply! How did the cake go? I haven’t had this problem myself -you’re right, it could be the plums, but it could also be a number of other things like oven temperature and weighing ingredients. I hope it worked out for you!
If I was using plums that I had frozen, would you defrost first?
Hi Charlotte! I think you could probably just use them straight from frozen actually. Otherwise they would get too watery as they defrosted – your other option would be to defrost then drain the excess liquid off before adding them to the cake. Would love to hear how it goes!
Think I did the worst of both options and half defrosted them! They did get watery so I baked probably close to an hour and a half but it was still delicious and not over cooked at all. I love all your recipes. I hope you can continue with it through your training. I’m an orthopaedic fellow so know what you have to go through!
Years ago, we used to make fun of Mollie Katzen’s “simple” recipes by saying that her lasagna recipe was for “one lasagna, made.” This referred to the fact that she often built all the hard work into the ingredients list. Today, the most famous committer of this sin is Ottolenghi, who has been roundly satirized. This recipe is no different. It calls for ten plums, “halved and stoned.” How you are supposed to stone them without smushing the plums or letting the stone take all the fruit with it is never explained — one imagines that Mr. Ottolenghi is not doing his own stoning. Sometimes a blog will clue you in on the tips for such tasks, but I guess it was obvious to Mr. or Ms. Brick.
Halving a stone fruit for me was assumed knowledge – if recipes explained the minutiae of every step they would be essays. I’m sorry you feel so negatively about this – often a lot of information can be found on google if you are really having trouble. It is also worth considering that these recipes are free to access on the internet and you are not obliged to use them!!
To halve and stone plums, I use a knife to cut around the ‘seam’ of the fruit, then twist each half apart. One half won’t have the stone, the other half will. Use a small paring knife to cut the stone out of one of them. I find they smush or the stone only takes all the fruit if they are very overripe.
Hi
Please can you let me know if this cake can be frozen
Thanks
Hi Ruth! I think you could probably freeze it but I haven’t done so personally – my only worry would be that the texture of the plums might be affected in the freeze/defrost process. This raspberry almond cake freezes very well though if you want an alternative https://www.thebrickkitchen.com/2016/07/lemon-almond-raspberry-layer-cake/ – you can make a half mix of the recipe shown in a 23cm cake tin.
Just cooked this and have to say, it was so good, I will be making again! Took a little longer to cook and plums were very moist so was unsure if cooked in the centre but it was fine! Thanks!
Thanks Margie, so glad to hear! Sometimes it is difficult to tell when the plums are particularly juicy, so glad to hear it worked out. You could also try a slightly large cake tin if you’re worried it cooked unevenly.
I have this cake baking in the oven for the second time in less than a month right now and it smells heavenly.
The first time I made it, I – suffering from “Mom Brain” – bought pears thinking they were plums (yes, I know the difference between the two). It also took a little longer to bake. It still turned out wonderfully tasty.
I am using plums this time! I triple-checked to make sure that they were indeed plums. This time I am baking the cake in a bundt cake pan. The smell is so fantastic though. Needless to say, I am SO excited to try it when it is finished.
Thanks Roxanne, so glad to hear and really hope it went well with the plums! The pistachio lemon would go with almost anything I reckon.