Plum Good!

This boozy easy-to-make cake is baked in a cast iron skillet. It makes for a delicious adult dessert, but I have been known to eat a piece for breakfast the next morning on the rare occasion we have leftovers. I have a long history of eating pie and fruit crumbles for breakfast, and now I have this cake to add to my list of items that fuel my morning lack of willpower. Loaded with cinnamon, ginger and vanilla, this cake will have you licking your fingers and eyeing a second piece. 

Upside Down Rum Plum Yum

You start by melting butter, brown sugar, spices and rum together in the cast iron skillet. Plums are cut in half, seeded and placed cut-side down in the skillet of butter-sugar-rum-yum, making for a beautiful presentation when the cake is inverted to serve. A batter is made using a combination of flour and ground almonds that is spread over the fruit and butter-sugar-rum sauce. When the cake is removed from the oven the sauce will still be quite liquid and you will wonder how you will ever be able to invert it without making a gigantic mess. Fear not, as the cake cools it absorbs the butter-sugar-rum sauce, creating a very moist and tender cake.

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Tools You Will Need For This Cake

You need a great 12" cast iron skillet. You can't beat the Lodge 12" skillet for price, value or performance. This cast iron skillet requires a little extra love. It needs to be seasoned and cared for. Hand wash without soap and never put it away damp or it will rust. The easiest way to thoroughly dry a cast iron skillet is to heat it up on the stove after you clean it. If properly cared for a cast iron skillet just gets better with the years.

If you have room for it in your budget, an enameled cast iron skillet makes for a gorgeous presentation, performs beautifully, does not require quite as much care and lasts for a life time. I love my Staub 12" skillet and use it for this cake, cornbread, steaks, chicken, fish, fruit crumble and a lot more.

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Fine Microplane Grater

I use a fine microplane to grate orange zest for this cake. This tool makes zesting a snap, giving you extra fine pieces of rind with no pith. I use grated orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime to add flavor to baked goods, salad dressing marinades and more. Zest is one of my favorite ways to enhance flavor without adding extra calories. 

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Plum, Rum and Almond Upside Down Cake

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A plum-delicious, rum-infused and generously spiced upside-down cake.

• Author: Something New For Dinner
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 60 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: 12 servings 1x
• Cuisine: New American

Ingredients

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• 1 pound of unsalted butter, divided in half
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 T plus 2 t ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 t ground ginger
• 5 T dark rum, divided
• 8 medium plums, halved and seeded
• 1 cup blanched almonds
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 T rum
• 1 T vanilla or vanilla paste
• Zest from 1 orange
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup milk

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Instructions

1. Place a foil lined sheet pan in the bottom of the oven and arrange the shelves so you have one shelf in the middle of the oven. The foil will protect your oven from any bubbling over of the butter and brown sugar sauce. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt 8 ounces of butter on low heat in a 12″ cast iron skillet. Add brown sugar, 2 t cinnamon, ground ginger and 2 T dark rum. Cook, stirring until sugar is melted and begins to bubble. Remove from heat and arrange plum halves cut-side-down in the bottom of the skillet filled with the sugar and butter mixture. Set aside while you make the batter.
3. To make the cake batter, finely grind the almonds in a food processor or blender. Process until almonds looks like fine meal. Mix ground almonds, flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, cream the remaining 8 ounces of butter with an electric mixer until pale, light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add granulated sugar and continue to cream for another 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, remaining 3 T rum, vanilla and orange zest until combined. Add 1/3 of the flour and almond mixture, followed by 1/3 of the milk, mixing and adding more flour mixture until all the ingredients are incorporated. Do not over mix. Batter will be thick.
5. Spoon the batter over the plums and butter-sugar-rum sauce to cover the plums. Bake for 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. The top of the cake will be golden brown. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.