It’s a piece of cake…Prune teacake
I’ve had a bottle of “plum” oil (oil made out of the stones of plums) sitting in my cupboard for the last couple of months. When I smelt it for the first time I was very tempted to dab a bit behind my ears and wear it as a perfume
(I have a perfume with vanille/almond notes). But instead I thought it would make a delicious base for a cake. Piece of cake to make, it won’t take you more than 10 minutes with a mixer.
Prune cake
3 eggs
100g sugar
80g whipping cream or very thick double cream
115g flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g “plum” oil*
75g prunes, chopped and rolled in flour**
Preheat the oven to 160°c. Whisk the sugar and eggs until they are thick and pale yellow colour. Whip the cream to a soft peak. Combine with the egg mixture. Sift the flour and baking powder into the cake batter. Add the oil and mix. Pour into greased and lined baking tin. Add the prunes. Bake 35 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted.
*If you don’t have prune oil. You could replace it with the same amount of sunflower oil and a tsp of almond extract.
**supposedly this stops the fruit from sinking to the bottom, didn’t seem to work with mine. If you know a better trick let me know.


February 25th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Looks delish Rachel. I love teacakes with fruit. Always adds a great aroma.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
wonderful. i am very intrigued by the plum oil. never heard of it …
February 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Thanks, Meeta. Me too I’m a great fan of teacakes. Hardly any effort for a delicious result.
Andreea- I found a link for the “plum” (the official French translation) for the oil I used. They have lots of information about the product. Click on plum oil link in the recipe.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Two new things to me - I have never tried prune cake nor have I seen the oil. It looks delish!
February 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Plum oil sounds so exotic. I doubt my local grocery store has it, but I will definitely search for it. Your little cakes look adorable.I’m not a big fan of prunes in general, but throw them in a baked good and it’s all good.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Oh yes! I must have that plum oil. I’ve never tried it and now I’m obsessed with having some.
Thank you for posting about prunes. They are one of my favorites and they don’t get the respect and attention they deserve.
Lovely cakes! Zoë
February 26th, 2008 at 4:49 am
I’ve never had plum oil.
This cake looks delicious but I’d love to add some armagnac to it..
February 28th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Hmn, I didn’t know there is something like the plum oil… This cake looks fabulous.
(your post reminds me of the oils I’ve brought from Morocco that I wanted to use as perfume. Those kinds of aromas are wonderful
February 29th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I’ve never seen anything like the plum oil but it looks lovely, and this cake is gorgeous; I love the colours against the background. ^__^
February 29th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
… and it WAS delicious!!! Mmm.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Perles de Gascogne - Virgin Plum Oil - France
March 11, 2008
Thanks for your nice recipe!
Please feel free to contact me if you need more info or recipe ideas with plum oil.
3, place de l’Armée d’Afrique 31200 Toulouse
info@plumoil.com