Recipe for Plum Upside-Down Cake
This year we’ve picked loads of plums from a couple of local trees – golden yellow and sweet as honey. I love them fresh, but this weekend we fancied something different. My partner, baker-in-chief at home, came up with this classic upside-down cake.
The plums turn jewel-like in the oven, the caramel bubbles and smells nutty and rich, and when it’s done, the cake is sweet, creamy, and gloriously plummy. The photo might not do it justice, but the flavour certainly does.
Ingredients
Caramel ingredients:
- 40g butter
- 70g sugar
- 5–6 plums, halved and pitted
Cake batter ingredients:
- 125g butter (softened)
- 125g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 125g plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C). Butter a round cake tin.
- Arrange the plum halves cut-side down on the base of the tin.
- Melt the butter and sugar for the caramel in a small pan over medium heat, stirring until golden and smooth. Pour it over the plums.
- Beat the softened butter and sugar for the batter until light and fluffy, then mix in the eggs one at a time. Sift in the flour and baking powder, folding gently until smooth.
- Pour the batter evenly over the plums and caramel, then bake for 40–50 minutes, until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a plate so the plums and caramel are on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.
