DOMESTIC DILEMMAS solved
Don’t be daunted by that diva demeanour – Friday’s very own chef Silvena Rowe is happy to answer all your kitchen queries
Q Can you give me an easy recipe for plum upside-down cake? I saw a picture of one – it looked delicious and I feel inspired to give it a try.
A Upside-down cakes look really pretty and don’t require any icing or decoration to enhance them. Here’s an easy recipe to get you started:
Halve and remove the pits from 12 good-quality plums, preferably Italian. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Arrange the plums, cut side up, on a baking sheet and bake them for about 30 minutes or until the plums are soft but still retain their shape. Set them aside to cool down to room temperature.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and butter a 20cm cake tin. Next, melt 5 tbsp of butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add 3/4 of a cup of dark brown sugar to the butter and stir for 3 minutes or until the sugar melts completely and begins to caramelise.
Take the pan off the heat and set aside to cool. While the butter is cooling, in a large bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup caster sugar, 1/3 cup extravirgin olive oil and 2 tsp of vanilla extract until it
This cake is delicious served with ice cream, whipped or pouring cream, or even custard
is evenly mixed.
In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes.
Now pour the wet mix into the dry one. Gently stir it all together. Don’t whisk it too much as that could give you a heavy cake. Pour the butter and sugar mixture in the prepared cake tin and then place the cooked plums on top, cut side down, in a pretty pattern. Now pour the cake batter over the plums and even it out with a spatula.
Place the cake tin on a baking sheet and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick or a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Once cooked, transfer the cake tin on to a wire rack and let it cool for about 30 minutes.
Once it’s cool, hold a serving plate above the cake and then invert it. Lift off the cake tin to reveal the gorgeous plums. This cake is delicious served with ice cream, whipped or pouring cream, or even custard.