Easy Plum Upside Down Cake

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 40

Servings: slices

Calories: 295kcal

A simple single layer bourbon vanilla cake topped with crunchy caramelized bown sugar and jammy baked plum slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add butter from topping ingredients to a nonstick or prepared round cake pan and place in oven to melt for about two minutes minutes.
¼ cup unsalted butter
Meanwhile, thinly slice plums (no more than ½-inch thick) and set aside.
2 fresh plums
Carefully remove pan from oven and mix brown sugar in with melted butter to create the topping. Arrange plum slices in pan so that they slightly overlap and form a circle.
½ cup brown sugar

Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt in a mixing bowl.
1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
In another bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, milk, melted butter, bourbon, and vanilla extract until uniform. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined and no dry pockets remain.
2 eggs, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup milk, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons bourbon, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Carefully pour cake batter into pan with plum topping. Transfer pan to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
Let cake sit for about 10 minutes then run a butter knife around the edges of the cake to release any sticky parts from the pan. Invert cake onto a plate by placing the plate on top of the pan and gently flipping.
Serve warm. See notes for storage information.

Preparation

Make sure you press the plums through the brown sugar mixture and into the bottom of the pan so that they will show through once the cake is flipped.

You can bake the cake up to three days in advance. Follow the storage instructions below.

Storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days and in the refrigerator beyond that. It will keep for up to five days total.

To freeze, wrap cake snugly in plastic wrap then again in aluminum foil then place in the freezer. It will keep for up to one month.

How to Flip Plum Upside Down Cake

Use a non-stick pan. Upside down cake is very buttery so stickiness is rare unless it gets burnt but better safe than sorry, right?
Let the upside down cake rest for about 10 minutes before flipping it over. Then run a butter knife around the edges of the upside down cake to release any sticky bits.
Flip the upside down cake over by placing a plate on top then gently inverting the pan onto it. Let the pan sit on top of the cake for a couple of minutes so all the flavor of the topping seeps in.
Tap the pan a couple of times then gently pull away.