Plum upside-down cake

Method
Prep:15min  ›  Cook:50min  ›  Ready in:1hr5min 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease a 23cm cake tin.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream 120g of the butter and 200g of sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract then beat in the eggs, one at a time, until creamy. Gradually add the flour and the milk, alternating between the two and beating well after each addition.
4. In a saucepan over a medium heat, melt the remaining butter then add the remaining sugar, simmer for a few minutes stirring frequently until the sugar darkens.
5. Lay the plums cut side down on the bottom of the prepared cake tin. Cover with the melted butter mixture then spoon the cake mixture in on top, taking care not to move your plum arrangement.
6. Bake in the preheated oven 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the tin.
7. When ready to serve, place the base of the tin over a gentle heat for about 30 seconds to 1 minute to melt the sugar plum layer which will allow the cake to come out of the tin easily.
8. Place a serving plate over the top of the tin then swiftly but smoothly flip the cake tin upside down. The cake should slip out easily on to the plate, if not, warm the base for a little longer. Slice and serve.

Cake tin

For upside down cake it is not advised that a loose bottomed tin is used, as it can leak.