English Plum Cake Recipe - Bread & With It (2024)

FAQs

What is plum cake called in UK? ›

Since the meaning of the word "plum" has changed over time, many items referred to as plum cakes and popular in England since at least the eighteenth century have now become known as fruitcake. The English variety of plum cake also exists on the European mainland, but may vary in ingredients and consistency.

The term "plum cake" and "fruit cake" have become interchangeable. Since dried fruit is used as a sweetening agent and any dried fruit used to be described as "plums", many plum cakes and plum puddings do not contain the plum fruit now known by that name.

A Fruit Cake is a normal vanilla cake with fruits in it. Whereas a Plum Cake is made with dry fruits soaked in alcohol/orange juice for more than a day. A Fruit Cake's colour is white to yellowish inside, whereas a Plum Cake's colour is brown to dark brown inside.

The plum cake's history can be traced back to medieval England, where the weeks leading up to Christmas, called Advent, saw a period of self-denial, fasting and abstinence. This was supposed to prepare the body for the festive season of feasts and indulgences, and also to save food for the celebrations.

England – Victoria sponge cake

A Victoria sponge cake is the quintessential example of English cuisine, simple, homely, and comforting. A traditional Victoria sponge consists of layers of buttery sponge cake, raspberry jam, and whipped buttercream.

Plum cake is generally costlier since it has loads of nuts n berries. Moreover it tastes good in butter and for the rich color brown sugar is added in it rather than normal sugar. Moreover for Alcoholic version it uses Alcohol for soaking , so all these things make them costly.

According to custom, on the eve of Christmas, a rich porridge was cooked and eaten to “line the stomach” for the upcoming feast. The porridge, said to have been made with oats, dried fruits, spices, honey, and sometimes even meat, can be called the grandfather of the Christmas — or plum cake.

The story of plum cake, also known as the fruit cake, can be traced to medieval England, where it was a popular tradition to observe a period of abstinence in the weeks leading up to Christmas. A rich porridge was cooked and eaten to “line the stomach” for the upcoming feast.

A plum cake is baked in the oven and though it has the sultanas and glace cherries of a plum pudding, they are distributed more judiciously through the batter. No suet is used in a plum cake, butter is. And instead of treacle and molasses, brown sugar is used.

Slang. a crazy or eccentric person; nut.

What is a wedding fruit cake? ›

A fruit cake, similar to a Christmas cake, iced with marzipan and royal icing is traditional at British weddings. Another tradition is that the married couple keep a slice for the first born child to eat.

Across India, Christmas celebrations are not complete without a special kind of cake, known as 'plum cake' (despite almost never containing plum, dried or otherwise), 'fruit cake', or 'Christmas cake', depending on which part of the country you come from.

The Origins of the Plum Cake

On Christmas Eve, a thick porridge called plum pottage or porridge was cooked using oats, beef, spices, and dried fruits. A pudding version of this later appeared during the Tudor era using suet, breadcrumbs, flour, dried fruits, honey, milk, and eggs and was called plum pudding.

It is not clear how it came to be called the plum cake. Some believe that raisins that are also referred to as plums in England gave this beautiful name! What makes it so special is the presence of almost all famous spices of the state – Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove, Fennel, Cumin, Nutmeg and Cashew nuts.

British variations

A Scottish speciality is the traditional Christmas cake, the "Whisky Dundee". As the name implies, the cake originated in Dundee, and is made with Scotch whisky.

Fairy cakes are not, as their name might imply, themed cakes designed and decorated to the liking of fantasy and sci-fi fans. They are, simply stated, smaller versions of cupcakes. They're widely popular in the UK, and tend not to pile on the icing in the same way that American bakers do with cupcakes.

British cakes account for 50% of the nation's top 10 favourite bakes, including classics such as Victoria sponge, sticky toffee pudding, flapjack, Bakewell tart and coffee and walnut cake.