Italian Prune Plums substitute

Best substitute

Damson plums

Use the same amount by weight as the italian prune plums you are replacing

Best for Zwetschgenkuchen and Pflaumenkuchen

Close match

Damson plums are the closest thing and swap 1:1, being just as dense and even more tart. Jarred or frozen Zwetschgen from a German or Polish grocer are the off-season answer, well drained. If all your shop has is ordinary round purple plums, buy them deliberately underripe and firm, cut them into quarters rather than halves, and scatter three tablespoons of ground almonds or semolina over the pastry before the fruit goes on, because the whole reason recipes specify this variety is moisture. Zwetschgen are low in juice, so they concentrate rather than flood as they bake, which is what keeps the base of a Zwetschgenkuchen crisp and the fruit intense. A ripe juicy dessert plum releases so much liquid that it turns the same cake into a soggy, pale, watery disappointment, and no amount of extra baking will fix it once the dough has gone.

Other italian prune plums substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Jarred or frozen Italian prune plums
Different texture
Use the same amount by drained weight
Halved Zwetschgen preserved in light syrup or frozen at picking, stocked by German, Austrian and Polish shops.
What changes
Best for
Zwetschgenkuchen out of season, compote and Kompott, cake fillings and strudel, dumplings, plum butter
Prep. Drain hard and pat dry, or use frozen without thawing; reduce added sugar if the fruit is in syrup.
The correct fruit at the wrong moisture level, which is a solvable problem. Drain jarred plums thoroughly in a sieve for at least twenty minutes and pat them dry, and use frozen ones straight from the freezer without thawing. Both are much softer than fresh, so they will not stand up on a cake in neat overlapping rows and will slump into a rustic layer instead, and jarred fruit is already sweetened, so cut the recipe's sugar by about a third. Flavour is genuinely good, with the right dark plum depth, just a little cooked and one-dimensional. Increase the ground almonds or semolina on the base to four tablespoons, because these carry more water than fresh Zwetschgen ever would.
3Firm, slightly underripe round purple or black plums
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight, cut into quarters instead of halves
Ordinary supermarket plums, chosen deliberately hard rather than ripe.
What changes
Best for
Zwetschgenkuchen and plum tarts, crumbles and streusel cakes, compote, roasting alongside pork or duck
Prep. Quarter rather than halve, arrange cut side up, and line the base with ground almonds or semolina.
What most people actually have, and it works if you manage the water. Choose fruit that is firm enough to resist a thumb and slightly underripe, since a rock-hard plum sweetens and softens in the oven but a ripe one only leaks. Cut into quarters, not halves, so each piece is smaller and holds less juice, and lay them tightly with the cut faces upward so any liquid pools in the fruit rather than draining into the dough. Scatter three to four tablespoons of ground almonds, fine semolina or dry breadcrumbs over the base first. Even done well, expect a wetter, softer, paler result than true Zwetschgen give, with more of a stewed than a concentrated flavour, and expect the cake to need an extra five to ten minutes in the oven. Clingstone varieties are also fiddly to prepare.
4Fresh apricots
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Firm apricots, halved, which stone as cleanly as a prune plum does.
What changes
Best for
streusel and sponge-based fruit cakes, tarts and galettes, dumplings, as Marillenknoedel, compote, jam
Prep. Halve, place cut side up, reduce sugar a little and add a squeeze of lemon for acidity.
A genuinely sympathetic swap and thoroughly Austrian in its own right. Apricots are freestone like Zwetschgen, they are the same convenient size for laying in rows, and firm ones hold their shape well in the oven with only moderate juicing, so the base stays reasonably crisp. What changes is character: the cake becomes golden-orange rather than deep purple, the flavour is honeyed, faintly floral and less tart, and it lacks the dark, almost winey concentration of baked plums. Choose apricots that are fragrant but still firm, since soft ones collapse and flood just like ripe plums. Reduce the sugar slightly and add a squeeze of lemon to bring some sharpness back.
5Sour cherries, fresh or jarred and well drained
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by drained weight
Morello or other tart cherries, the other classic fruit for the same German cakes.
What changes
Best for
streusel cake and Blechkuchen, sponge-based fruit cakes, strudel, compote, dumplings
Prep. Drain thoroughly, pat dry, and toss with a tablespoon of cornflour before it goes on the base.
Rather than an imitation, this gives you the other traditional version of the same cake, which is why German bakeries sell both Zwetschgenkuchen and Kirschkuchen. Sour cherries bring plenty of the tartness that makes the plum version work and their flavour deepens beautifully with butter and streusel. The problem is liquid: cherries are far juicier than Zwetschgen, and jarred ones are swimming. Drain them for half an hour, pat them dry, and increase the ground almonds or semolina on the base to four or five tablespoons, or toss the fruit with a tablespoon of cornflour. Expect a pink-red cake with visibly wetter fruit and a softer base than a plum cake gives. Sweet cherries are much less successful, tasting flat under sugar and streusel.
6Dried prunes, briefly rehydrated
Taste and texture differ
About 150 g dried prunes for every 500 g of fresh plums
The same variety of plum, dried, then soaked just enough to plump.
What changes
Best for
cake and strudel fillings, plum butter and Powidl, compote, winter tarts, roasting with pork
Prep. Soak in hot water or black tea for fifteen minutes, drain well, and add lemon juice to restore some sharpness.
Worth knowing that dried prunes are literally this plum with the water removed, usually the very same varieties, so the flavour lineage is exact. Cover them with hot water or tea for fifteen minutes, drain, and use. That said, this is a filling substitute rather than a topping one. Rehydrated prunes are soft, dark, chewy and much sweeter than fresh fruit, with none of the fresh acidity that makes a Zwetschgenkuchen bright, and they will not lie in neat glossy rows on a cake. Cut the recipe's sugar by a third and add a good squeeze of lemon. In a strudel, a filled yeast cake or a plum butter they are excellent; on an open tart they look and taste like something else.

What is Italian Prune Plums?

Italian Prune Plums is the English name for Zwetschgen, the small oval deep-purple plums with dense, dry, golden-yellow flesh and a stone that falls cleanly away, and that dry flesh is exactly why central European baking insists on them: it concentrates in the oven instead of flooding the cake with juice.

Cooking tips

The reason recipes name this specific plum is water, so make every decision with that in mind. Zwetschgen have dense, dry, freestone flesh that concentrates in the oven, which is what lets a hundred plum halves sit directly on raw yeast dough or shortcrust without ruining it. Any wetter fruit needs a barrier and a smaller cut. This one piece of understanding is the difference between a good plum cake and the pale soggy one people blame on their oven.
Line the base before the fruit goes on. Three to four tablespoons of ground almonds, fine semolina, dry breadcrumbs or crushed rusk sprinkled over the dough soaks up juice and keeps the bottom crisp. It is standard practice in German Blechkuchen and it is the single most effective fix when you are substituting juicier fruit. Increase it to four or five tablespoons for jarred fruit or cherries.
Arrange the halves cut side up and packed tightly, standing slightly on their edges, overlapping like roof tiles. Cut side up keeps the released juice in the little cups of fruit rather than running straight into the dough, and packing them tightly matters because the fruit shrinks a great deal, so a cake that looks overloaded raw looks correct baked. Score each half once from the skin side if you want it to splay open attractively.
Sweeten after baking, not before, if the fruit is very tart. Sugar draws water out of plums, so tossing them in sugar before they go on the cake creates the syrupy pool you were trying to avoid. Lay the fruit on dry, bake, then dust the hot cake with cinnamon sugar or brush it with warmed apricot jam. Streusel on top is the traditional way to add sweetness without adding liquid.
Zwetschgen freeze extremely well, which is worth knowing because their season is short, roughly August to early October. Halve and stone them, spread them on a tray to freeze individually, then bag them. Frozen halves go straight onto a cake without thawing and behave almost like fresh, which is far better than any substitute available in February.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Italian prune plums and ordinary plums?

Density, water content and stone. Italian prune plums, or Zwetschgen, are small and oval with dense golden flesh that is low in juice, and the stone comes away cleanly so you can halve them with your thumbs. Ordinary round dessert plums, whether red, black or yellow, are bred to be eaten fresh, so they are much juicier and softer, and many cling to their stones. In baking that difference decides everything: prune plums concentrate in the oven and keep their shape while the pastry underneath stays crisp, whereas juicy plums release liquid that pools in the base and turns it pale and soft.

Can I use regular plums for Zwetschgenkuchen?

Yes, with three adjustments. Buy them firm and slightly underripe rather than ripe. Cut them into quarters rather than halves, so each piece holds less juice, and lay them tightly with the cut faces upward so liquid pools in the fruit instead of draining down. And sprinkle three to four tablespoons of ground almonds, semolina or dry breadcrumbs over the dough before the fruit goes on to absorb whatever escapes. Even then, expect a slightly wetter, softer, paler cake with a more stewed flavour, and add five to ten minutes to the baking time.

Are damson plums the same as Italian prune plums?

Not the same variety but very close in the ways that matter for cooking. Damsons are smaller, rounder-ended, and considerably more tart and astringent, particularly in the skin, and many of them cling to their stones. What they share is the important part: dense, firm, low-juice flesh that bakes down without flooding, plus plenty of acid and pectin. Swap them 1:1 by weight, add an extra tablespoon or two of sugar to the cake to balance the sharpness, and allow a little more time for stoning them.

Can I just leave the plums out?

Not from a Zwetschgenkuchen or Pflaumenkuchen, since the fruit is essentially the entire topping and the base is a plain yeast dough or shortcrust that would bake into bread on its own. What you can do is put a different fruit on the same base, which is exactly what German bakeries do all summer: apricots, sour cherries, firm halved apricots, sliced apple with cinnamon, or rhubarb with a streusel lid are all traditional Blechkuchen toppings. Pick one, keep the ground almond layer underneath, and you have made a real cake rather than a compromised one.

When are Italian prune plums in season and where do I find them?

Late summer into early autumn, roughly from mid-August to early October in the northern hemisphere, and the window is genuinely short. Look for them at farmers markets, at Italian and Eastern European greengrocers, and in supermarkets under the names Italian prune plums, prune plums, empress plums or sometimes damson-type plums; they are the small oval deep purple ones sold loose in large quantities rather than the big round ones in punnets. Outside that season, German and Polish shops sell them jarred and frozen, and it is well worth freezing a few kilos yourself while they are cheap.

Related substitutes

More fruits substitutes

Italian Prune Plums substitute

Other italian prune plums substitutes

2Jarred or frozen Italian prune plums

3Firm, slightly underripe round purple or black plums

4Fresh apricots

5Sour cherries, fresh or jarred and well drained

6Dried prunes, briefly rehydrated