Plum Cake – Upside-Down Fruit Cake

This delicious Plum Cake is so easy to make! Serve this upside down fruit cake plain or warm with a little cream or ice cream for dessert.

If you are fond of easy nostalgic bakes then you must give my Retro School Cake recipe a go!

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Recipe originally published 2015 – updated May 2020

Sometimes you just HAVE to have a slice of cake. Sundays are especially in need of cake I find… I seem to get the urge to bake at the same time every weekend 🙂

Whenever 3 o’clock rolls around I want a slice of something with coffee and a chat with neighbours or friends. Even if the chat is over Skype or Zoom…

Although I am usually attracted to towering layer cakes there’s a lot to be said for simple, everyday cakes.

This upside-down plum cake is such a down-to-earth, easy, one-bowl recipe. I made it with my son perched on the kitchen island, helping with arranging the fruit in the cake tin and giving me (pretty sound) baking advice.

When you turn the cake over, you will find that the plums have transformed the rich almond sponge into a rather spectacular sight.

Brush the top of this plum cake with some apricot or berry jam and you will give it a glossy, almost mirror-like shine.

Serve slightly warm with some soured cream or, even better, vanilla ice cream, add a few friends, share and enjoy!

HOW TO MAKE PLUM CAKE

STEP 1 Halve the plums, remove the stone and slice each half into 3 segments. Toss them with the sugar and arrange the fruit on the bottom of the prepared cake tin in a single layer forming a concentric circle.

STEP 2 Put the softened butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, soured cream, eggs, baking powder, salt, spices and zest in the bowl of your stand mixer and beat together until you have a smooth, quite thick batter, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. You can also use a hand mixer to do this – so long as all the ingredients are room temperature.

STEP 3 Spread the batter over the fruit using a spatula – carefully so you don’t ruin the lovely pattern you have created with the plum slices. Bake for about an hour or until the cake is risen, golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.

STEP 4 Run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the cake and release the springform sides. Carefully invert the cake onto a platter or cake stand.
Warm the jam in a saucepan or the microwave for short bursts until it is runny. Brush the jam over the top of the cake to create a shiny beautiful glaze.

STEP 5 Enjoy! Serve slightly warm with some cream or ice cream. Cake keeps well for 2-3 days in an airtight tin.

UPSIDE DOWN FRUIT CAKE – VARIATIONS

The other great thing about this cake is that you can vary the fruit to suit your taste or the seasons. Pineapple upside-down cake is a retro delight but you can try pears, apples, bananas or apricots.

HAVE YOU MADE MY PLUM CAKE RECIPE? Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!

Plum Cake (Upside Down Plum Cake)

Lucy Parissi | Supergolden Bakes

This delicious Plum Cake is so easy to make! Serve this upside down plum cake plain or warm with a little cream or ice cream for dessert.

5 from 7 votes

Print Rate

Course: Cake

Cuisine: British

Keyword: Plum Cake, Upside Down Plum Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 8-10 ripe but firm plums8-10 ripe but firm plums
• 4 tbsp light brown soft sugar for the tin4 tbsp light brown soft sugar for the tin
• 230 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened230 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
• 250 g (1 ¼ cups) soft light brown sugar250 g (1 ¼ cups) soft light brown sugar
• 140 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) flour140 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) flour
• 100 g (1 cup) ground almonds100 g (1 cup) ground almonds
• 125 g (½ cup) soured cream 125 g (½ cup) soured cream
• 4 eggs room temperature4 eggs room temperature
• 2 tsp baking powder2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom¼ tsp ground cardamom
• pinch ground clovespinch ground cloves
• zest of 1 orangezest of 1 orange

To brush on cake

• 4 tbsp jam (any seedless berry or apricot jam)4 tbsp jam (any seedless berry or apricot jam)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease a round springform (23cm/9in) cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
• Halve the plums, remove the stone and slice each half into 3 segments. Toss them with the four tablespoons of sugar.
• Arrange the plums on the bottom of the prepared cake tin in a single layer.
• Put the softened butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, soured cream, eggs, baking powder, salt, spices and zest in the bowl of your stand mixer and beat together until you have a smooth, quite thick batter.
• Carefully spread the batter over the fruit and tap the cake tin against the counter.
• Bake for about an hour or until the cake is risen, golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
• Run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the cake and release the springform sides. Very carefully invert the cake onto a platter or cake stand.
• Warm the jam in a saucepan or the microwave until it is runny. Brush the jam over the top of the cake.
• Serve slightly warm with some cream or ice cream. Cake keeps well for 2-3 days.

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