These plums are so juicy sweet.
Out of this world juicy sweet.
My mama and I went fruit picking this morning.
It was the perfect day- breezy, sunny but slightly cloudy, and warm without being overbearing.
We returned a few hours later with two quarts of sour cherries, two quarts of delicate raspberries, a 1/2 peck of peach “seconds” and a quart of yellow summer plums.
Quite a haul.
(We only picked the raspberries and cherries, though. Cheaters.)
We quickly threw the raspberries in a pot with some turbinado sugar and honey, something that was to become a jam, but, upon realizing that we could not for the life of us find that damn pectin, would have to be a thickened compote.
Oh well- I shall eat it swirled into thick, creamy Greek yogurt with hazelnuts and flax seeds.
A fine breakfast, if you ask me!
Then, we picked over the cherries and threw them in a pot with sugar and a spent vanilla bean.
I took charge of the plums.
After hastily eating 3, I decided to bake them into a quick cake.
This whole thing took, start to finish, about 45 minutes.
I swirled some (measurements are not precise, here, people: I free pour. Sorry.) maple syrup, honey, and a little nub of butter together, then nestled the plums among it.
I topped it with a quickly thrown together almond-olive oil cake batter.
The most wondrous thing happens with upside-down cakes: the caramel-syrup mixture melts into the fruit, creating jammy little pockets of heaven, and the cake, while crisp at the very top, absorbs some of the fruity, maple-honey syrup and becomes wonderfully perfumed.
These plums (called Early Goldens) turned from a pale yellow to an apricot orange.
The almond and vanilla pair just beautifully with these sweet little nuggets of summer.
If you can get your hands on some fresh, sweet stone fruit- I would suggest pluots or plums- make this cake.
It’s quick, moderately healthy, and delicious!
Psst… It’s also naturally gluten-free!
Upside-down Plum Cake
cake proportions adapted from Comfy Belly
ingredients:
8 small plums, halved and pitted
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter
pinch sea salt
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
scrapings of 1/2 a vanilla bean
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup oil (I used olive)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 eggs
directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine 1/3 cup honey, maple syrup, butter, and sea salt in a small pot and bring to a boil.
Pour into the bottom of an 8×8 pan.
Arrange the plums in the syrup mixture.
Make the cake: whisk almond flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla scrapings.
Make a well and add the honey, olive oil, vinegar, and eggs into the center.
Whisk the entire batter together and then spread over the plums.
Bake until the top is deeply tanned and a cake tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool, then slide a knife around the edge and invert onto a serving platter.