Plum Upside-down Cake – recipe
This recipe for Plum Upside-down Cake is really a version of the classic and rather retro pineapple upside-down cake. It’s a simple recipe of light sponge and juicy fruit. I have simmered the plums in a sugar syrup so that they are fully cooked and tender when the cake element is cooked.
Ingredients:
10 ripe red plums cut in half and stones removed
100g softened butter
100g golden caster sugar
100g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Method:
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.
Place a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of a 20-21cm round cake tin. Grease the sides well.
Put the sugar and the water in a small pan. Simmer until the sugar dissolves.
Add the plums and continue to simmer on low till just tender. Do not allow the syrup to turn into caramel.
For the cake, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Add alternately and a little at a time, the eggs and vanilla, and the flour and baking powder. Mix well between each addition of the wet and dry ingredients, and continue mixing until you have a smooth batter.
Arrange the fruit, cut side up, on the base of the tin, in a tasteful symmetrical pattern. Carefully pour over the batter and smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake for 25 mins; but this cake could take up to 35 minutes to cook, so check to see if a skewer comes out clean. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Serve warm with a little cream …although it doesn’t need it!
Recipe by Chrissie Walker © 2018
