Plum-Cardamom Upside-Down Cake

By David Tanis

Updated Oct. 5, 2025

Plum-Cardamom Upside-Down Cake
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
Total Time
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling
Prep Time
10 minutes
Rating
5(82)
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.

Featured in: This Lemony, Garlicky Chicken Is the Ultimate Fall Dinner

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

    For the Topping

    • Unsalted butter, for greasing pan
    • 1cup/220 grams packed light brown sugar
    • 2pounds plums, pitted and sliced into wedges (about 7 plums)
    • 2tablespoons lemon juice

    For the Cake

    • 1⅓cups/260 grams granulated sugar
    • 4large eggs, at room temperature
    • ½teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ½cup/113 grams unsalted butter, melted
    • 1⅓cup/170 grams all-purpose flour
    • 2teaspoons baking powder
    • 1teaspoon ground cardamom
    • Pinch of salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

391 calories; 13 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 67 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 52 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 130 milligrams sodium

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.

Powered by

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.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
82 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

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?!

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.

Meg

Plum or pear? Or both?

Luket

Made the recipe as written. The cake is delicious, but similar to other comments, it took a while for the middle to be done (cake tester came out clean after about 1hr 20m at 350 for me). I would cut the brown sugar by half next time - mine ended up with hardened clumps among the plums (I probably packed it too tight to make the even layer), which made the topping sickly sweet in parts. TBH, if I were to make another plum cake, I’d probably stick with the NYT classic Plum Torte.

Kat

I just finished eating the first bite of this cake and WOW - one of, if not the best dessert I've ever made. The plums get all jammy and caramelized and sit on top of a nutty spongey vanilla cake. I would recommend only cooking for 50 min at 350 as the cake bottom got a bit crackly but overall an incredible recipe. I didn't have cardamom but did 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of ground nut meg and it's a delicious pairing.

Alejandra

It's giving giant muffin! Loved it. Reduced sugar by 60g in the sponge, used around 1/3 c. sugar to toss the plums and the sweetness was perfect for my guests who commented "its not too sweet!" Used small black plums and the color came out a gorgeous mix of pinks and purples. As I was prepping the batter I noticed the plum/lemon juices were leaking in the springfoam so I drained the pan before adding the batter. My resulting cake was a touch on the dry side, so not sure of that affected things.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.