Plum cake in a significant tradition of cake making: "...throughout the districts of the Loire, the Dordogne, the Lot and the Périgord, there [was] hardly a celebration, a wedding feast or celebration at which the dessert [did] not include some sort of plum or mirabelle tart, made with fresh or dried plums or jam according to the season." The Mirabelle plum is a specific cultivar used to make "Tarte aux mirabelles" (plum tart). A "Galette aux fruits" is a type of galette made with yeast dough and covered with previously cooked fruit in season, such as plums (or quinces, apples, apricots). The
Plum cake puddings are made "were always raisins, not the plump juicy fruits that the name suggests today." In Old English, the term "plūme" was "from medieval Latin "pruna", from Latin "prunum"," which equated to "prune". "Prune" in modern French means plum, so plum tarts have names such as "tarte aux prunes". In English, prunes are dried plums, and when modern cakes use them as a primary ingredient, they may be referred to as a plum cake or type of plum cake. Plum cake has historically referred to an early type and style of fruitcake in England since around 1700. Raisins and