Can I Use Fresh Plums In the Christmas Cake?

Our answer

Many rich fruit cakes, such as Nigella's Chocolate Fruit Cake (from FEAST) use dried fruit such as prunes, which are dried plums. However, you can't swap in fresh plums for dried ones.

Prunes are made from some specific plum varieties, the main one being La Petit d'Agen. They tend to be on the smaller side with stones or pits that can be removed easily. They dry out more quickly than larger plums and tend to be quite sweet. Even if they are rehydrated in juice, alcohol or tea, they will still contain less liquid than a fresh plum. Using fresh plums will make the cake batter too wet, which will affect the texture and baking time of a cake. Plums are excellent for crumbles and if you quarter them and remove the stones then they could be used to make Jumbleberry Crumble, or sprinkled with a little sugar, roasted in a hot oven until soft and served for breakfast with yogurt and Toasty Olive Oil Granola. You can also halve the plums, remove the stones and freeze them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment (parchment paper). Once solid, transfer the plums to freezer bags, seal tightly and freeze for up to 6 months. Cook the plums direct from the freezer in crumbles and pies, or make them into plum compote.