Sugar-Free German Plum Cake (Sourdough Discard Recipe)

This German plum cake is sugar-free, lectin-free, gluten-free, and so easy to make if you have a sourdough starter. Moist, fluffy, and delicious, but not overly sweet, this cake is perfect for a coffee or tea break or even for breakfast. While the inspiration was a plum cake, this recipe will work with any stone fruits or even berries. This is the perfect motivation to start making your own sourdough starter.

When my German friend, Cristina, asked me if I had a German plum cake recipe, I admitted I didn’t know exactly what a German plum cake was. I have an upside-down plum cake coming in my new book – The Everyday Low Lectin Cookbook – and that was the only time I used plums to make a cake. After a quick research, I realized a German plum cake is made with yeast, and I could use the discard from feeding my lectin-free and gluten-free sourdough starter to replace commercial yeast. I was looking for ways to use my discard anyway.

The plums

While the best plums to make this cake are the European plums (the small, almost round, dark plums), it will go with any plums that are ripe and juicy but not overly ripe or mushy, so they can still hold their shape when baked.

I used these plums in the picture below, which I bought from a local farmer here in Denmark. I forgot to ask at the farm, and I couldn’t find the name of this variety. But they worked beautifully for this cake.

To add them to this cake, you have to wash and dry them, cut them in half, remove the pits and slice each half into 2 or 3 slices, depending on the size of the plums.

Making the dough

To make the dough for this sugar-free, gluten-free and lectin-free German plum cake, you need:

• Psyllium husk flakes
• Honey
• Warm hemp milk or almond milk
• Sourdough discard
• A flour mix: sorghum, millet, tapioca, chestnut
• Melted butter
• Pasture-raised egg
• Vanilla
• Salt

A note on chestnut flour: if you can’t find chestnut flour, you can replace it with tapioca or any of the other flours in the mix. But chestnut flour has a natural sweetness I love (which is why I used it), so you might want to add some sweetener to the dough.

• The first step is to mix psyllium husk, honey, and warm milk and let it rest while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix well all the flours and salt.
• When the psyllium husk and milk mixture thickened, add the sourdough discard and mix well.
• Add the room temperature melted butter and continue to mix until the butter is incorporated; then add the egg and mix again until you have a creamy batter.
• Add the dry flours to the wet mix and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until you have incorporated all the flour.
• Use a plastic or silicon dough scraper to make sure no flour is left on the bowl, then use the scraper to gently knead the dough. The dough will be soft and sticky, more like a thick batter.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and wrap it in a big towel or plastic bag. Let it rest at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours.

NOTE: You can also use a standing mixer to make the dough.

Make the streusel

While the dough is resting, make a sugar-free, lectin-free and gluten-free streusel, using:

• pecan nuts
• a couple of dates and prunes
• room temperature butter
• sorghum flour
• spices

A note on spices: you can use cinnamon and allspice, or you can use my Holiday Warming Spice Blend.

Mix everything in a food processor until the nuts are roughly chopped.

Prepare for baking

• Preheat the oven to 350F / 175C.
• For these quantities, I use a 7-inch tart pan as that’s what I have, but you can use an eight or 9-inch, which is a more common size. You can even use a square dish.
• Grease it well with some butter, then add the dough and spread it out with your fingers and an even layer, leaving an edge along the walls of the dish.
• Add the sliced plums on top of the dough, gently pushing them into the dough.
• Top with an even layer of the streusel.
• Bake for about 35 minutes.
• Let it rest for about 20 minutes before you slice into it.
• You can dust with some inulin powder and cinnamon if you wish.

Note on the baking dish: I used a 7-inch tart dish, because that’s what I have that fit this cake the best. As you can see, the cake base is pretty thick, so there is enough if you want to use a larger dish or pan. A 9-inch will work just fine, but you will have a thinner base. In this case you might want to check the cake at 30 minutes into baking, as it might be baking faster.

How to serve the German plum cake

You can serve this cake with coffee or tea, or even have it for breakfast. It’s best served immediately after baking.

What you don’t eat straight away, cover with foil and refrigerate.

How I quit sugar

If you want to learn more about a sugar-free lifestyle, feel free to check out my article about quitting sugar and sustaining it for more than five years.

• How I Quit Sugar 5 Years Ago. And I Still Eat the Cake

*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.

Print Recipe

No Sugar German Plum Cake (Sourdough Discard Recipe)

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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By Claudia Curici – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 40 minutes – Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Moist, fluffy, and delicious, but not overly sweet, this cake is perfect for a coffee or tea break or even for breakfast. While the inspiration was a plum cake, this recipe will work with any stone fruits or even berries. This is the perfect motivation to start making your own sourdough starter.

Ingredients

• FOR THE DOUGH:
• 1 tablespoon psyllium husk flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/3 cup warm hemp milk or almond milk
• 65 grams of sourdough discard (it's what is left after one feeding if you use my sourdough discard recipe)
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
• 2 tablespoons chestnut flour
• 1/4 cup melted butter (room temperature)
• 1 pasture-raised egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt (non-iodized)
• THE PLUMS:
• 6-10 plums, sectioned in half, pitted, and cut into thick slices (enough to cover the dough)
• FOR THE STREUSEL:
• 2/3 cup raw pecan nuts
• 2 big dates and 2 prunes, roughly chopped (you can also use only dates or only prunes)
• about 2 tablespoons room temperature butter, but not melted
• 2 tablespoons sorghum flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice (or you can use my holiday spice blend)

Instructions

1

The first step is to mix psyllium husk, honey, and warm milk and let it rest while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.

2

In a separate bowl, mix well all the flours and salt.

3

When the psyllium husk and milk mixture thickened, add the sourdough discard and mix well.

4

Add the room temperature melted butter and continue to mix until the butter is incorporated.

5

Add the egg and mix again until you have a creamy batter.

6

Add the flours to the wet mix and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until you have incorporated all the flour.

7

Use a plastic or silicon dough scraper to make sure no flour is left on the bowl, then use the scraper to gently knead the dough. The dough will be soft and sticky, more like a thick batter.

8

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and wrap it in a big towel or plastic bag. Let it rest at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, up to 2 hours.

9

Mix everything in a food processor until the nuts are roughly chopped.

10

Preheat the oven to 350F / 175C.

11

For these quantities, I use a 7-inch tart pan as that's what I have, but you can use an eight or 9-inch, which is a more common size. You can even use a square dish.

12

Grease it well with some butter, then add the dough and spread it out with your fingers and an even layer, leaving an edge along the walls of the dish.

13

Add the sliced plums on top of the dough, gently pushing them into the dough.

14

Top with an even layer of the streusel.

15

Bake for about 35 minutes.

16

Let it rest for about 20 minutes before you slice into it.

17

You can dust with some inulin powder and cinnamon if you wish.

18

Slice and serve. Cover the leftovers with foil or in a closed container and refrigerate.

Notes

Note on the baking dish: I used a 7-inch tart dish, because that's what I have that fit this cake the best. As you can see, the cake base is pretty thick, so there is enough if you want to use a larger dish or pan. A 9-inch will work just fine, but you will have a thinner base. In this case you might want to check the cake at 30 minutes into baking, as it might be baking faster.