This Plum Upside Down Cake is a delicious way to use plums this summer. Easy to make and packed with flavours, this cake combines caramelised plums and a almond meal butter cake to create the most summer-y dessert ever!
Wash and slice your plums in half and remove the stone.
Place the Brown Sugar, Lemon Juice and Butter in a large non-stick skillet on medium heat. When all melted and stirred, add the Plums on their sliced side (flesh side). Leave to caramelise for 5 to 10 minutes or until soft (1).
Line a 9inch/23cm Springform Pan (2) with Baking Paper. Place the caramelised Plums at the bottom and cover with any leftover caramel, then set aside.
Butter Cake
Preheat the oven on 180°C/350°F.
Cream the very soft Butter and Brown Sugar for 5 minutes, using the paddle attachment of a stand or hand mixer. It needs to be paler in colour and very fluffy.
Add the Eggs one at the time, mixing well between each addition (3), then add the Vanilla Extract.
Sift all of the Dry Ingredients in a separate bowl: Plain Flour, Almond Meal, Baking Powder, Salt and Ground Ginger (optional).
Add about half of the dry ingredients to the wet batter and mix it in. Whisk in the Milk, then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Stir until all combined, but try not to overwork the batter.
Pour the batter over the caramelised plums, using a spatula to smooth it out if needed.
Bake for about 30 minutes, then leave to cool down before removing from the pan and flipping it over. Serve warm or lukewarm.
Notes
You can caramelise the plums a little bit only (about 5 minutes) or push them further (about 10 minutes). Stay close to the stove to check on to avoid burning the caramel. You want plums that are nice and soft, but not so soft that they are falling apart.
Make sure you use a Springform Pan that seals properly, as the caramel may start to leak out of the pan. As a precaution, I placed a tray lined with baking paper in the oven under the baking pan to catch any leaking caramel. Alternatively, you can use a simple round (non-springform) pan line at the bottom with baking paper and with greased edges.
I like to whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl and add the pre-whisked eggs a little bit at the time, but that it optional.