HappyCook80's Recipe

Upside-Down Plum Poppy Seed Cake

Category: Recipes

Upside-Down Plum Poppy Seed Cake

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsps. unsalted butter, softened
6 fresh purple plums, pitted, and each cut into 6 wedges
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. poppy seeds
1/4 cup milk

Butter a 9x2 inch round cake pan. Dust with flour and tap out excess. Heat 2 tbsps. butter in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add plums and 1/2 cup sugar. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until plums are just tender and sugar is completely melted. Transfer fruit to a plate using a slotted spoon. Reserve syrup in skillet. Let cool slightly.

Arrange plums, cut sides down, along bottom of prepared pan in concentric circles. Boil reserved fruit syrup in skillet about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Pour syrup over plums and let cool completely.

Preheat oven to temperature 350 degrees. Beat together remaining 1/2 cup butter and 3/4 cup of remaining sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir in poppy seeds.

With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour, and beat until just blended.

Using clean beaters and bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 2 tbsps. sugar and continue to beat to stiff peaks.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of
whites into cake batter. Then fold in remaining whites just until blended. Spread batter evenly over plums in prepared pan.
Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cake cool completely in pan. Run a small knife around edge of pan, then invert cake onto a serving plate.
Yields 12 servings.