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(83)
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
    • 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.

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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
83 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?!

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.

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