Plum Upside Down Cake

This Plum Upside-Down Cake is a delicious summer dessert. The caramelised plums topped with an almond meal butter cake make a light - and super flavourful - cake that will be a perfect dinner party dessert or afternoon tea cake.

Why we love this recipe

Plums are way too underrated. And it's a shame, because they are SO delicious when in season! Plums are often used in desserts or pastries like my Plum Clafoutis or Plum Custard Tart, but it can be hard to find a good Plum Cake Recipe.

Today, I'm tackling this issue with this delicious Plum Upside-Down Cake: a delicious combination of sweet, tangy, moist and sticky!

For me, this Plum cake with almond meal is simply the best plum cake recipe ever. The plums are lightly caramelised in Brown Sugar, Butter and Lemon Juice before being baked under a light and moist Almond and Butter Cake.

And how fun are upside-down cake to make!? Just like my Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake or Apple Upside-Down cake, it is always so awesome to flip them over and discover the result!

Ingredients

There are two separate sets of ingredients needed to make this Upside Down Plum Cake. First, the caramelised plums, then the simple butter cake.

I have tried to make this cake without caramelising the plums first, and the result was definitely not as nice as this one. Trust me, you will want to caramelise your fruits first!

Brown Sugar Caramelised Plums

This caramel is made with Brown Sugar, Butter and a little bit of Lemon Juice. You can discard the lemon juice if you want it sweeter, but it provides a really nice acidity needed to balance the sweetness of the caramel!

To make the caramelised plums, you will need (scroll down to recipe card for all quantities):

• Fresh Plums
• Brown Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Butter

Butter and Almond Cake Batter

The Butter Cake is made with a mix of Plain Flour and Almond Meal, which gives it a super light, moist and fluffy texture.

For the simple Almond Butter Cake, you will need (scroll down to recipe card for all quantities):

• Unsalted Butter - very soft
• Brown Sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla Extract
• Plain Flour
• Almond Meal
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Ground Ginger (optional)

More Upside-Down Cakes:

• Blackberry Upside Down Cake
• Persimmon Upside-Down Cake
• Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake from Girl Heart Food
• Cranberry Orange Upside-Down Cake from Baked by an Introvert

How to make Upside Down Cake with Plums

Again, there are two main steps in making this cake:

1. First, roasting the plums in a lemon and brown sugar caramel and placing them at the bottom of your pan.
2. Second, preparing the almond cake batter and pouring it over the plums

How to caramelise plums

There are a few ways to make a caramel, but when using Brown Sugar like here, it is important to add the liquid ingredients at the same time as the sugar.

Brown sugar tends to burn much quicker than white sugar, so by adding a liquid, you are delaying this effect.

To make the brown sugar caramelised plums:

• Wash and slice your plums in half, removing the stones.

• Place the Brown Sugar, Butter and Lemon Juice in a large non-stick skillet. Turn on low/medium heat and leave to melt together.

• Stir to make sur all the ingredients are combined, the place the sliced side of the plums over the caramel.

• Leave it to caramelise for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how far you want to push your caramel. Be careful not to leave it on the heat for too long though or it will start to burn. You want the plums to be soft, but not falling apart.

Once your plums are nicely roasted, place them at the bottom of a lined 9"/23cm Pan (I used a Springform Pan) and cover with any remaining caramel. Set aside while you prepare the cake batter.

Note that if using a springform pan, make sure it seals properly. The caramel tends to leak through the pan if not well sealed. I usually place a flat tray lined with baking paper in the oven under the cake pan to collect any leaking caramel and avoid any dripping/burning inside your oven.

Upside Down Cake Batter

This Almond based cake batter follows the classic Creaming Method, where Sugar and very soft Butter and 'creamed' (mixed) until pale and fluffy.

How to make this upside down cake batter:

• With the paddle attachment of your stand mixer (or hand mixer), cream the very Soft Butter and Brown Sugar for about 5 minutes. It needs to turn into a paler colour and be very fluffy.

• Add the Eggs one at the time, then the Vanilla Extract. I personally prefer to whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl and add the pre-whisked eggs a little bit at the time, but it is optional.

• In a separate bowl, sift in all the dry ingredients.

• Add about half of the dry ingredients to the wet batter, then the milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. Stir until combined, but don't overwork it.

The final step is to pour the batter over the roasted plums. Because it is a relatively thick batter, I found it easier to use a tablespoon and add a little bit of batter all over the plums.

Then I used a spatula so carefully smooth out the batter if needed. Try to be gentle here, as you do not want to move the plums under the batter too much.

Recipe FAQs

More Summer Fruit Recipes:

• Almond and Peach Galette
• Strawberry Charlotte Cake
• White Peach Frangipane Tart
• Strawberry Custard Tartlets
• Raspberry Mousse Cups
• Fraisier Cake
• Mango Panna Cotta

Made this recipe? Leave a comment & rating below to let us know what you think and tag us on Instagram @abakingjourney to show us your creations!
And to make sure you don't miss any new recipe, don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter!