A Conversation between Sisters
“Happy Hour tonight?”
I pressed the send button—and waited. Anna, my sister, is notoriously slow at responding to text messages. But who can blame her? She’s 26, in her first year of teaching, and lamenting the recent move of her boyfriend to Washington D.C. I figured happy hour would be something she would need, but not necessarily something she could prioritize.
Indeed, it was two days later that found us sipping the suggested libation. I talked and talked, about our parents’ upcoming trip to Vietnam, Thanksgiving, and a bunch of nothings, while Anna melted into the moment and declared ultimate relaxation.
Then, the topic of plums came up, jolting us both out of our assumed realities. Anna, taking responsibility, reminded me that our parents’ plum tree was heavy with the tart, juicy fruit.
“Mom says you can take as many plums as you want,” she said.
“Really?” I paused, imagining plum cake, plum tart, plum jam, plum crostata.
“I would love to make a plum cake,” I told my sister. I envisioned a cake like my grandma would have made—equal parts soft crumb, fruit, and whipped cream.
Later that night, I drove to the quiet neighborhood where our parents live. In the moonlight, I gathered dark, purple plums. Some so tender they already felt overripe. Others just barely pink. They would be juicy, tender, and tangy for cake.
A few days later, I with Cook’s Illustrated’s fruit upside-down cake recipe in hand, I chopped those plums into soft purple cubes. I mixed flour and cornmeal into a honey-hued batter. The sweet cake warmed the air as it baked. When I pulled the buttery dessert out of the oven, gooey caramel spilled over the deep red fruit and tender yellow cake. And I texted Anna.
“Just pulled a plum upside-down cake out of the oven. Want a warm slice?”
But school had her busy planning. To her wistful decline, I wrote, “Next time!”
I didn’t know when it would be. Or if it would be plum season, but I was certain that something like a Grandma-style cake, made with our parents’ plums, would come out of it.
Plum Upside-Down Cake
From Baking Illustrated
Topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
5 medium plums, pitted and cut into ½-inch slices
Cake:
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, granulated sugar
4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup milk
For topping:
Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square or round, 3-inch deep cake pan. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat; add brown sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is foamy and pale, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared pan; distribute evenly. Arrange the fruit over topping; set aside.
For cake:
Adjust oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Cream the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer at medium speed. Gradually add one cup of the sugar; continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the yolks and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients and milk, alternately in 3 or 4 batches, until the batter is smooth.
Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites in the large bowl at low speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high; beat to soft peaks. Gradually add remaining two tablespoons of sugar; continue to beat into stiff peaks. Gently fold a quarter of the egg whites into the flour mixture. Repeat with remaining egg whites. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly on top of the fruit. Bake until top of the cake is golden and a toothpick comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes.
Rest cake on wire rack for two minutes. Slide a pairing knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Place a serving platter over the pan and hold tightly. Invert the cake onto the platter. Carefully remove the cake pan. If any fruit sticks to pan or falls off cake, carefully reposition.
For printable recipe, click here.
