Christmas Traditions: Delightful Treats: The Evolution of the Plum Cake (Not Pudding)

Plum cake can mean a couple of different things depending on where you are in the world 🍰.

🌍 Two Main Interpretations

• British tradition: "Plum" historically referred to raisins or dried fruits, not actual plums. So a plum cake is essentially a rich fruitcake made with dried fruits, nuts, and spices, often served during Christmas.
• Indian tradition: In Kerala and other regions, "plum cake" is a spiced Christmas cake made with dried fruits soaked in rum or brandy, baked into a moist, dark cake. It’s a holiday staple.

NOTE: Modern versions: Some recipes do use fresh plums, creating a lighter cake with tart-sweet fruit baked into the batter.

✨ Common Features

• Dried fruits: Raisins, currants, dates, or candied peel.
• Warm spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom.
• Alcohol soak: Rum, brandy, or wine for depth of flavor.
• Festive association: Often linked to Christmas or weddings.

I'm familiar with plum dessert being linked to the British.  But I found a delightful article published by an Indian writer.

Tales of a Christmas cake | The Hindu

The evolution of the plum cake from porridge and pudding to what it is now.

Origin as a porridge for Christmas Eve fasting

• The plum cake traces its roots back to a medieval English custom: on Christmas Eve, after a period of abstinence, people ate a porridge made from oats, dried fruits, honey (and sometimes even meat) to “line the stomach”. This porridge is considered the earliest ancestor of today’s plum cake. (The Indian Express)
• Over time, that porridge became richer and more complex — evolving into a boiled pudding (or “plum pudding”) and, eventually, to the baked version we now know. (Medium)

Transition in ingredients and cooking method around the 16th century

• In the 1500s, the original meal-like porridge began to be modified: oats and the possible meat were replaced by flour, eggs, butter (or suet), and sugar. This change turned the dish from a simple porridge into a dense, fruit-laden pudding or cake batter. (The Indian Express)
• The cooking method also changed: many people boiled the batter (wrapped in cloth), but wealthier households, who had ovens, started baking the mixture — moving it closer to the modern plum/fruit cake. (Medium)

Why “plum cake” doesn’t usually contain real plums

• Despite the name “plum cake” (or “plum pudding”), these cakes traditionally don’t contain fresh plums. Rather, the word “plum” in medieval English referred broadly to dried fruits — raisins, currants, prunes, etc. So the “plums” in “plum cake” likely meant dried fruit, not the modern understanding of plums. (Wikipedia)
• As a result, many classic plum cakes are more akin to what people now call “fruit cake”: rich, dense, with dried fruits and spices, and sometimes soaked in alcohol — a far cry from a simple plum-based dessert. (India Today)

(Primary Source: Krishna, Anubhuti. “Tales of a Christmas Cake.” The Hindu, 25 Dec. 2014, https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/evolution-of-the-plum-cake-from-porridge-and-pudding/article6725141.ece.)

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