I welcomed this autumn season with a plum cake. It is a dream plum autumn cake. 
I made many many plum cakes in my life but this cake is definitely my favorite and I will bake this cake many many times this autumn season.
The recipe is from the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”. I think I have never mentioned that I am a little bit of a newspaper addict (I try to cut back on my daily newspaper consumption which is a challenge for me) and “Die Zeit” is one of my favorite newspapers. When I was in high school I was always looking forward to Thursdays because when I came home from school the latest issues of the newspaper was waiting for me. After high school things changed a bit and I do not always read the newspaper on a Thursday anymore but whenever there is time which is usually on the weekend. 
But I always check out the recipe of the ZEITmagazin on Thursdays. When I saw the plum recipe last Thursday I could not help it and bought my first plums of the season on the very same day and made this wonderful recipe. Making this cake was a moment full of happiness and a wonderful start into the autumn (baking) season.
Happy autumn to all my dear readers!
Makes one cake (30 cm / 11 inches)

INGREDIENTS

Shortcrust

  • 300 g pastry flour
  • 200 g cold butter, cut into cubes
  • 100 g granulated sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt

Filling

  • 60 g almond flour
  • 600 g Mirabelle plums or prunes
  • 3 tablespoons of crème fraîche
  • 100 g granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
  • 3 eggs, medium size

DIRECTIONS

  • On a well-floured surface, knead flour, butter, sugar and salt to a dough. Wrap the dough in clingwrap. Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
  • Clean the mirabelle plums or prunes, remove the pit and cut in half or quarter the plums (in case you have big plums on hand).
  • Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper.
  • Roll out the shortcrust and place it into the cake pan and prick the bottom with a fork. Put the cake pan for 10 to 15 minutes in the freezer (this prevents that the shortcrust will shrink while baking in the oven).
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  • Clean plums, remove the pits and cut in half or quarter the plums (if you have big plums on hand).
  • Mix crème fraîche, sugar, flour and eggs in a bowl.
  • Distribute the almond flour on the bottom of the shortcrust. Arrange the plums [skin side down] in a circular pattern. Pour the egg mixture over the prunes.
  • Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes.
The recipe can be found here (in German).