Every year on my birthday, I asked my mother to make me this cake. The majority of people would dislike any cuisine that contained prunes, but they are so mistaken! This cake is excellent. I discovered my mother’s recipe in the recipe section of an old cookbook after she had to enter a nursing facility. I have been baking it ever since because I was so thrilled. In actuality, I then began preparing it for her. By the way, my Little Mama passed away at the age of 95. She taught me how to cook because she was an excellent cook.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 bundt cake |
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted prunes
- ½ cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup margarine
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup, such as Karo®
Instructions
- Combine prunes and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until prunes are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a fluted tube pan (such as a Bundt®).
- Mix flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, allspice, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Combine vegetable oil, 1 cup buttermilk, and eggs in a separate bowl; pour them into the flour mixture. Mix until fully incorporated. Use an electric mixer to blend in the drained prunes; the mixer will break them up a bit. Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven until a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove cake from oven and allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack.
- To make icing, combine 1 cup sugar, margarine, 1/2 cup buttermilk, vanilla extract, and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for a full 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Invert cake onto a platter and pour hot icing over the cake.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 631 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 73 g |
| Cholesterol | 29 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 336 mg |
| Sugars | 51 g |
| Fat | 37 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This cake is tremendously delicious. My family and I love it, and I have made it several times. We like to call it ‘plummy cake’ because it is so rich, and it is, after all, made with ‘plums’. It is one of those nice, old-fashioned cakes filled with fruit and nuts. The icing is splendid too. I have found that the amount of icing made by the recipe somewhat drowns my cake. However, the last time I made it, I cut the icing recipe in half, and it was the perfect amount.
I followed recipe exactly..it turn out great.. very rich & delicious..will make again..& again! My family loved it❤️
I’m 82 years old. This is SAME recipe my grandmother used for her Christmas gift cakes about 65 years ago. All ingredients are the same so this is truly a very old recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I can’t say it’s the best cake I ever had but it was tasty. Very easy to make and spiced just right. I used a mixture of prunes and dried apricots and it worked out fine. I cut the nuts down to one cup. The cake was nice and moist. I made a cream cheese frosting to go on it. Everyone went back for seconds. I would make it again. A perfect cake for autumn with a hot cup of coffee.
I did not make any changes in the recipe. Followed it exactly and the cake turned out delicious! Everyone loved it. I used canola oil.
I baked this cake exactly like the recipe and it turned out very dense didn’t rise at all. Made some changes by adding 1tsp baking powder , a stick of butter and a total of 3 eggs also 1 3/4 cups buttermilk. The cake came out perfect fluffy moist. With the few changes I’ll be making every year at the holidays!
Great cake, brings back childhood memories! I made it in a regular cake pan and doubled the prunes. I didn’t have buttermilk so I used 2% and added a couple tbsp of butter. I drizzled a piece of it with raspberry sauce and white chocolate sauce. Then ate my next piece plain. Both were great!
My mom made this cake also..but she poured the icing over it hot in the tube pan and let it soak into the cake..it really made a difference.. Thank you for the memory and recipe
We all really enjoyed this! Even my 3 wee ones!! Made exactly as written! Will def make again!
Georgia Lady, I grew up making this, also. It is so moist and rich. If you try it, you will enjoy and possibly fall in love with it! I also made one similar to it with drained canned purple plums. It was so moist it was almost a pudding. I won a blue ribbon with this at the fair. The fact that it says “prune” makes people shun it. If you just call them plums, the think it is amazing! And they are correct. Thanks for sharing a truly tasty treat. I hope people will try it.