TWD: Flip-Over Plum Cake

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was selected by Becky of Project Domestication. Dorie described this cake best when she said it has “down-home, not-in-the-least-fussy-good-looks.” It’s the kind of cake you might make when you have last minute dinner guests and need a quick, but delicious, dessert. It’s so easy you can whip it up even if you’re in the midst of preparing pulled pork in your slow cooker and jambalaya on your stove top.  Usually attempting a dessert when my kitchen is already bustling with activity is a recipe for disaster but not this one.  

Italian prune plums are tossed with sugar, cinnamon, coriander, and ginger and set aside to macerate while a quick batter is thrown together with just a bowl and whisk.  The batter is poured into a baking dish on top of hot melted butter and the fruit is scattered over the top.  Into the oven it goes, where the fruit settles to the bottom and the batter rises to cover it.  I halved the recipe and baked it in an oval baking dish, which was probably a tad too small, but it worked out nonetheless. 

(Random side note – we registered for these colorful bowls when we got married almost 5 years ago and they’re still my favorite.  Love the variety of sizes and the pop of color, they make me happy!)

This isn’t the kind of cake you slice into neat pieces – the texture is soft and it’s best dished out with a big spoon and topped with vanilla ice cream.  I was a little wary – Dorie used the word “pudding” to describe the cake, and that texture didn’t sound appealing to me, but I wound up loving it.  The moist, buttery cake sitting on the sweet, juicy plums was such a delicious combination.  It almost reminded me of a cobbler-type dessert.  I sent most of the cake home with my mom and my stepfather emailed me less than 12 hours later to say he’d finished it already and that it was outstanding.  I think it’d work with a variety of fruits and I definitely plan to make it again to find out!

Many thanks to Becky for hosting! She’ll share the recipe for the plum cake on her blog today or you can find it on page 42 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.