Thursday, August 18, 2011

Upside Down Plum Cake

I've been craving cakes...all kinds...anything bready and on the sweet side...So I made this the other day..



...Although maybe not the prettiest, it was a pretty perfect cake..you could add more sugar than I did if you like your cakes on the sweeter side...this recipe had more of a subtle sweetness and tart thing going for it..it was buttery and moist and paired perfectly with a little bit of greek yogurt at breakfast.  Or you could just eat a little slice everytime you pass by the kitchen..yum!


Upside-Down Plum Cake
adapted from The Kitchen Sink Recipes


11 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks aprox) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
8-10 medium plums, halved and pitted (I used a mix of regular and baby plums--the most important thing is that they fill the bottom of the pan)
1 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg**
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter your pan (I used a basic 9 x 12 cake pan, but most recipes call for a springform pan--I don't have one, but if you do, it will definitely make "the flip" that much easier. Melt 2 tablespoons butter; pour into pan. Using a sieve, sprinkle light-brown sugar evenly over the melted butter. Arrange plum halves cut side down on top of the brown sugar, squeezing in as many plums as possible to allow for shrinkage during baking. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (if you have one--you can also do this part by hand like I did!), cream the remaining 8 tablespoons butter and the sugar until light. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half the flour mixture, and beat until combined. Beat in the yogurt. Beat in the remaining flour mixture.

Spoon cake batter on top of plums, spreading evenly with a small spatula. Transfer to the oven, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 1 hour. Run a knife around edge of pan to loosen cake. Remove ring if using a springform pan, or just make ure the edges are loose and separated; invert onto a serving plate. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.