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Plum Upside-Down Cake

Plums are in season...and they happen to make the best upside-down cake! This cake is a favorite from my mother's kitchen. We had a wee orchard of Italian prunes when I was a child...and shipped plums to the packers at this time of the year. And since they were available in abundance...we used them in cakes and pastries and 'pluma moos'. Italian prunes freeze well...and can be used straight from the freezer for this recipe.


Cake layer:
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup milk
Fruit Layer:
  • 2-3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • about 12 plums (Italian prunes or your plums of choice)
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Spray 9-10 inch spring form pan with cooking oil; line with parchment paper.
  3. Pour melted butter over bottom of pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter.
  4. Arrange plum halves cut side down over the brown sugar.
  5. Beat 1/2 cup butter and together with sugar until light and fluffy.
  6. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
  7. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and add dry ingredients alternately with milk.
  8. Beat together but do not over mix.
  9. Spoon batter over top of the plums, spreading evenly.
  10. Bake for about 45 minutes...or until cake is set in the middle.
  11. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
  12. Remove ring and invert onto serving plate.
  13. Serve slightly warm with ice-cream.





from the kitchen of
recipe file

18 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 31, 2011 at 4:18 AM

    Ok, this looks absolutely dee-lish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. NikiAugust 31, 2011 at 4:51 AM

    Our prune plum tree is loaded right now, ready to eat in the next few days. Thank you for this recipe!

    One question: How do you freeze prune plums, do you skin them, and pit them, do you need to blanche them, do you toss them in whole and untouched? Would sure appreciate a reply, as I will have way more plums ready than I can use at one time.
    Thanks & blessings,
    Niki

    ReplyDelete
  3. girls who like to gorgeAugust 31, 2011 at 5:01 AM

    YES! I love it when plums are in season! This looks like a fabulous cake for autumn! x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Judy August 31, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    Niki...you can bag the plums just as they are and freeze them whole. They can be pitted when frozen. However, I usually halve my plums...pit them...and lay them on cookie sheets to freeze. Once they are frozen solid, they can be bagged...ready to use. Very simple...and they taste like fresh in baking!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 31, 2011 at 10:17 AM

    How beautiful, Judy. Thank you for sharing. :) I adore anything baked with plums. You've just saved my family from my usual standby - plum clafoutis!

    Anna, Toronto

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bev KAugust 31, 2011 at 11:01 AM

    Lovely! I've never though of using plums in an upside down cake. I might scatter some blueberries over the plums when I make this. They go together so well with plums.

    ReplyDelete
  7. theBreedveldsAugust 31, 2011 at 3:09 PM

    Made this plum cake this morning and enjoyed it with a coffee and good friend this afternoon - beautiful and delicious! The kids loved it too :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. NettySeptember 2, 2011 at 7:44 PM

    I made this delicious cake this afternoon to share with friends for our weekly Friday night dinner. We all enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks for sharing so many great recipes with us.
    From one Mennonite girl to another :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. TraceySeptember 6, 2011 at 3:46 AM

    Do you leave the skins on the plums for this recipe?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Judy September 6, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    The skins stay on, Tracy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousApril 28, 2012 at 8:52 PM

    Thanks for sharing this! I used jarred crapapples instead of plums and it turned out amazing, I had never made an upside down cake before and it was straightforward and my family raved about it :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2012 at 4:57 PM

    One Tablespoon baking powder sounds like a lot

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2014 at 12:39 PM

    I just found this recipe and made it with frozen peaches and blueberries. It was delicious, so much better than using a yellow cake mix which is my usual trick. I did change the baking powder to 1 teaspoon as I was afraid to use a whole Tablespoon. Thank you. Angharad

    ReplyDelete
  14. Judy February 26, 2014 at 3:34 PM

    1 Tablespoon of baking powder is correct, Angharad...but I'm glad it turned out with 1 teaspoon as well.

    ReplyDelete
  15. DutchasMarch 1, 2015 at 3:35 PM

    I just made this recipe with peaches rather than plums. I had to bake 20-25 minutes extra. My friend made this with peaches last week and the middle did not bake. I put a thermometer in my oven and it is accurate. Just a regular oven, not convection. Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 4, 2015 at 8:56 PM

      I would venture to guess that peaches, being juicier than plums, would call for the cake to need a longer baking time.
      Just a guess.

      Delete
    2. Judy March 6, 2015 at 11:24 AM

      Dutchas...I'm guessing that different pans require more or less time to bake. My springform pan takes about 45 minutes...but some pans may require longer baking time. When a toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean...the cake is baked through.

      Delete
  16. UnknownJune 1, 2016 at 8:38 AM

    This is the best upside-down cake we ever had, and so easy to make. Thanks for the recipe :-)

    ReplyDelete

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