Plum-Cardamom Upside-Down Cake

By David Tanis

Updated October 5, 2025

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling
Prep Time
10 minutes
Rating
5(111)
Comments
Read comments

Turn this easy to make (and easy to love) cake right-side up, and it’s a rustic beauty, generously made with any kind of plum. It keeps well and actually improves the longer it sits. So don’t give big servings. Have a reasonable sliver at the table after dinner and save a nice fat slice for breakfast.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

FOR THE TOPPING

  • Unsalted butter, for greasing pan

  • 1 cup/220 grams packed light brown sugar

  • 2 pounds plums, pitted and sliced into wedges (about 7 plums)

  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

FOR THE CAKE

  • 1 ⅓ cups/260 grams granulated sugar

  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature

  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  • ½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter, melted

  • 1 ⅓ cup/170 grams all-purpose flour

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

  • Pinch of salt

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)

67 grams carbs; 103 milligrams cholesterol; 391 calories; 4 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 13 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 130 milligrams sodium; 5 grams protein; 52 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan. Coat the bottom of the pan evenly with light brown sugar. Toss plum slices with lemon juice, then arrange in a single layer on the sugar, skin side down. Set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Put granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or in a sturdy mixing bowl if using a whisk). Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium until the mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add butter. Increase speed a bit and continue beating until mixture is fluffy, another 5 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Sift together flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt. On low speed, add flour mixture to egg-sugar mixture. Stir briefly to incorporate into a smooth batter.

  4. Step 4

    Spread the batter over the plums in the prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

  5. Step 5

    Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then invert over a cake platter. Loosen and remove pan. Cool completely to room temperature.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
111 user ratings
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Comments

Nell

And what kind of plum? Three types are at my grocery store: very big black plums, medium size purple plums (round and slighty red skin) and small Italian prune plums. I just made the classic plum torte recipe (which does not specific what type of plum) and it was a total failure: the ripe purple plums I got stayed firm and did not cook down like in the picture. The result was: a boring white cake with hard plum halves on top. So before I do this recipe PLEASE let us know: WHAT KIND OF PLUMS?!

J.

Approach with caution! The pear/plum confusion should have been a tip-off, but there are a number of problems. 1. The amount of plums called for is weirdly high and left me with a bunch of leftover slices (3-4 avg purple is enough). 2. Strongly recommend a parchment circle. 3. The beating times are way too long (maybe for by-hand vs. stand mixer)? I followed them against my better judgement and the batter collapsed. Cake still rose but had a chewy texture. Guessing 2-3 min is more accurate.

Lynn

“Generously made with any kind of pear” while probably true, plum is in the title so is this from a different recipe? Perhaps I’ll try with 6 of one, half a dozen if the other.

AC

I made this cake with emerald beaut plumcots. The lightness of the cake batter worked beautifully with the tartness of the fruit, of which I used about half of the recommended amount. Not sure if this would apply to plums, but the plumcots would have overwhelmed the cake if I’d used any more.

Maria Zolotukhina

The plums need to be very firm - I ended up finishing baking the cake after removing it and having turned it upside down as they were still very watery. Also, even though I really enjoy cardamom, 1 tsp tasted like too much.

Perfection

I am wary of the plum in general, but had just picked a bunch off of a tree in the neighborhood and needed to use them up; now I will look forward to making this next summer! I had about seven dark purple plums, they were 1 lb 4 oz, and were the perfect amount. I didn't place them skin down, but put them on their sides so it would make a pretty spiral. One they were spiraled over the sugar, I squeezed on some lemon juice and sprinkled extra cardamom on the plum layer. Put parchment circle on bottom as previous commenter suggested. The plums I started with were SO flavorful so they did the real work. Besides cutting up plums and arranging them (which takes like 20 to 30 mins and makes a big juicy mess!) the cake part is super easy. Easy summer dessert, worth the (small) effort!

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