Culinary Explorer
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Plum Upside-Down Cake with Cardamom
Created by Chef Ally
Ripe late-summer plums collapse into amber caramel beneath a tender, cardamom-scented cake. Flip it onto a plate and the fruit becomes a jeweled crown, glossy and jammy, begging for cold cream.
Start with the plums. They should be heavy for their size, fragrant at the stem end, and yield slightly to pressure. Perfect ripeness is everything here. Italian prune plums are traditional, their dense flesh holding its shape against the heat, but any ripe plum at the height of its season will work. If they smell like nothing, they will taste like nothing. Wait for better fruit.
Upside-down cake is an act of faith. You arrange the fruit at the bottom, pour batter over the top, and trust that the oven will transform everything. When you flip, the reveal is always a small thrill. Caramel-glazed fruit, glossy and burnished, becomes the crown.
Cardamom changes this from simple to memorable. It has a warmth that flatters stone fruit without overwhelming it. Grind your own from pods if you can. The difference between fresh cardamom and the dusty jar at the back of your spice drawer is the difference between a good cake and one people ask about.
Ingredients
unsalted butter (for topping)
Quantity
6 tablespoons (85g)
light brown sugar
Quantity
3/4 cup (165g)
packed
ripe plums
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds (about 6-8 medium)
pitted and sliced into eighths
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| unsalted butter (for topping) | 6 tablespoons (85g) |
| light brown sugarpacked | 3/4 cup (165g) |
| ripe plumspitted and sliced into eighths | 1 1/2 pounds (about 6-8 medium) |
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