I decided to make a plum upside-down cake. The picture just looked sooooooooo good! Once I got into baking it, I thought, "this is a version of a pineapple upside down cake". A chef friend of mine says there are only so many recipes. I guess she's right.
But whatever it is, this cake is a nice change of pace from the traditional pineapple upside cake. If you don't want to use plums, apricots or peaches would be a nice substitution.
Plum Upside-Down Cake
Serves 8.
Ingredients:
Plum mixture:
12 Tablespoons (1½ sticks) butter, divided
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon honey
4 to 6 large plums
Cake:
1½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup milk
whipping cream or ice cream, optional
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and honey. Heat until sugar and honey blend in, forming a thick, smooth sauce. Transfer to a 9-inch round cake pan with 2-inch high sides.
3. Cut plums in half; remove pit. Cut in half into sixths. Arrange plums on top of sauce in overlapping concentric circles. Set aside.
4. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a medium bowl until light. Add sugar and beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in extracts. Add dry ingredients, alternately with the milk, beating until just blended. Spoon batter evenly over plums. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer to a cooling rack; cool in pan for 30 minutes.
5. Using a knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Insert cake onto serving platter. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
