Paleo Plum Cake with Plum Caramel

I love air conditioning.  I also love hot, sunny summer weather.

I am a series of contradictions.

We run our air a lot.  I like it cool in the house, especially when I’m baking or we’re running around cleaning and organizing.

This week, we had a couple guys in the house doing work.  You may have seen the photo of the new backsplash in the kitchen I posted on my Instagram story.  It looks great, but it meant we had limited use of the kitchen for a few days.

It was a small sacrifice and not too much of an inconvenience.  One change was that we had to eat in the dining room, something we almost never do.  We turned the light on and ate breakfast.

And the air would not stop running.

I don’t know if the brightness of the light throws it off or if it puts out far more heat than I realized (although I’m not always a fan of having a lot of light on for that reason), but I now know the secret for making the air kick on when I really want it.

Turn on the light and enjoy the cool breeze.

And this paleo plum cake with plum caramel.  I feel like plums don’t get the summer fruit love they deserve.  Plums are just as tasty as their stone fruit counterparts like peaches and cherries.  They are typically super juicy and packed with hints of sweetness and tartness.

I have been wanting to try this recipe for awhile and I’m so glad I finally got to it.  Plum cake isn’t that new, especially around my blog, but plum caramel sounded so intriguing.

It totally makes the cake and is everything I hoped it would be with the contrasting flavors of rich, almost smoky caramel and bright, almost tart plum.  It’s great on the cake, but there is no need to stop there.  Pour this caramel over ice cream, smear it on toast, or even make a cool salad dressing with it, some vinegar, mustard, and olive oil.

I’m going to enjoy a slice with extra caramel and maybe extra light too 😉

Paleo Plum Cake with Plum Caramel

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★★★★★

5 from 1 review

• Author: Laura
• Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
• Yield: 12 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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Plum Caramel

8 large plums

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 vanilla bean

¾ cup coconut sugar

½ cup water

Plum Cake

2 ¾ cups paleo flour blend (2 cups almond flour, 1 ¼ cups tapioca flour, ¾ cup coconut flour)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup coconut sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling

¼ cup maple sugar

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

6 large egg yolks

¾ cup almond milk

8 large plums

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Instructions

Make the plum caramel.  In a high powered blender, place the plums, pitted and quartered.  Add the lemon juice and blend until smooth.  If the mixture is too thick to blend, add a bit more lemon juice or water.  Set aside.  Puree may be made 1 day ahead, covered, and refrigerated.

In a medium saucepan, place the vanilla bean, scrapings and whole bean, sugar, and water.  Cook over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture bubbles vigorously, about 5 minutes.  Add the plum puree slowly and whisk to combine.  Cook about 5 minutes more until thickened.  Pour into a bowl to cool.  Once cool, refrigerate, covered, for up to 1 week.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Oil a 9 inch cake or pie pan, and place it on a foil lined baking sheet to catch any drips.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, cardamom, cinnamon, and coconut and maple sugars.  Whisk in the olive oil and egg yolks, followed by the milk.  Whisk until a relatively lump free batter forms.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan.  Top with 1/3 cup of caramel.  Pit the plums and cut them into wedges about ¾ inch thick.  Top the caramel with half of the plum wedges.

Pour the remaining batter on top, spread over the plums, then add the rest of the plums (squeeze them in!), sprinkle with the reserved tablespoon of sugar, and bake for an hour to 1 hour 20 minutes, tenting if necessary to prevent browning.  The cake is done when it is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm or allow to cool completely in the pan.  Cake may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.  Be sure to serve it with extra caramel!

Notes

Recipe adapted from Sarah Jampel via Food52

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes