Recently, I read a recipe for a plum cake that sounded good and different. Since my recent attempt at an upside down prune cake, lightly sweet and fruity cakes have been on my mind. So I followed this recipe and although I think it would be good with a scratch cake mix, I did use a box because I was pressed for time.

First we sliced the plums. I had six lovely plums, sliced three, Melody ate one, two were in reserve. Next, we prepared the batter. I did not add the almond extract to the cake mix because 1. I hate almond extract and 2. I didn’t have any. Third, we poured the batter into a large skillet. I for some reason don’t have a cast iron skillet, so I just used a skillet/casserole that I know can go in the oven. This casserole is about 11″ diameter and was 2/3 full if that gives you any idea of how much cake batter there is in a box cake mix.

Then we laid the plum slices on top of the batter. Some of them sank in right away and I tried to rescue them. Melody was surprisingly good at laying the slices on carefully. She did almost the entire center of the cake by herself.

Ready to go into the oven

We baked the cake at 375, starting out for 35 minutes. At that time the inside was still not done so I put it back for another 10 minutes. At the timer, the cake was nicely done so we took it out to cool.

Wait, where are the plums?

As you can see, the plum slices sank completely into the cake. The top was sprinkled with sugar, which accounts for the carmelized top of the cake. We let it cool about an hour, and then cut into it.

Topped with a little whipped cream

I turned the slice over so that the plums would be on top, then topped with a bit of whipped cream. It is a not-too-sweet and very moist cake, with a nice fruity finish. I was pleasantly surprised. I think in the future, I’d try putting butter, brown sugar and pecans on the bottom of the pan, then the fruit, then the cake batter. This would be turned out completely onto a plate as an upside down cake. I’ll definitely try this again but with a scratch cake mix.

We also made tamale pie again. This time I didn’t have zucchini on hand, added cholula sauce, and then had hot sauce on hand at the table. It was delicious!

Oh my gosh it was good!