The other week we bought a bunch of these cute Italian plums. Hubby loves plums and he figured he'd take them in his lunches to work. The very first day, I got a message from him that read. "These plums are tasty". Followed very quickly by "I just found a worm in the plum". Well, at least it was the whole worm.....right? Understandably, he was a little gun shy about taking any of the plums after that.... ICK!
Now I just can't let a basket of plums sit there and not be baked into something! I started searching the Foodbuzz archives for plum recipes and found this delectable looking upside down plum cake from Boulder Locavore. After checking the cupboards, then running to the store for milk, coming back, starting the baking, it was after 9:00pm. So what did I do? I kept going forcing me to stay up late. Yes, 6:00 am comes quite early but once I started mixing, I just kept going! Did I need the cake for anything? No. But with my Hubby and the Boy both studying for their courses, I needed something to pass the time. Also, the plums make me think of summer....
I slightly adapted the recipe to suit my baking style but this cake is so fabulous you should go check out Boulder Locavore yourself. This cake would go well with other fruit if you don't have plums on hand.
Upside down Plum Cake
· 1/2 cup butter,
softened (divided into 3tbsp and 5 tbsp portions)
· ½ cup packed light
brown sugar
· 2 tablespoons water
· 3 cups pitted plums
· 1 ¾ cups flour
· ½ cup ground almonds
or almond meal
· 1 cup white sugar
· 1 tablespoon baking
powder
· ¼ teaspoon salt
· 1 cup milk
· 2 eggs
· 1 ½ tsp vanilla
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Wash and cut the plums into wedges.
Melt 3 tablespoons
butter and pour into the bottom of a 9 x 9 pan. (I used my spring form pan and
the butter leaked out so play it safe with a regular pan)
Add to the butter in the pan the brown sugar and
water. Stir to combine and spread the
mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan.
Arrange the plums on
the bottom of the pan and set aside.
In a large mixing combine
flour, ground almonds, white sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In another
bowl, mix together the milk, 5 tbsp of softened butter, eggs, and vanilla.
Add the wet
ingredients to the dry and beat until well combined, then beat another minute
on medium,
Bake for 45 minutes
or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I think know my cake needed another 5 to 10
minutes to bake.
I lost a lot of the brown sugary goodness through the pan.... |
Allow it to cool for
5 minutes on a cooling rack (note: do not allow it to sit longer or it may be
difficult to remove from the pan). Run a
knife along the sides of the pan and carefully turn onto a serving plate. Cool
about 45 minutes.
I highly recommend this cake. It was the perfect thing to have for breakfast this morning!!
Until next time, stay warm and eat well!
What a tasty looking breakfast. Love it.
ReplyDeletea nice break form the pineapple upside-down cake. your plum cake looks so moist. love it!
ReplyDelete