Hold onto your hats! This recipe takes the cake and (literally) flips it on its head. Juicy, tart plums nestle into soft, fluffy, perfectly sweet almond cake. You won’t want to miss out on this plum upside down cake — it’s THE summer cake you’ve been waiting for!
Bonus? It’s vegan, gluten-free, and you’ll need just 10 ingredients. Let’s bake, friends!
This cake begins with the upside down plums! We arrange sliced plums (apricots work, too!) in a circular pattern at the bottom of a pie pan. Generously greasing the pan with vegan butter helps prevent the plums from sticking and cane sugar creates a caramelized sauciness.
Next, we make the cake batter. Cane sugar, vegan butter, almond milk, and applesauce are the wet ingredients, with optional almond extract giving it a pronounced almond flavor! If you love almond extract, be sure to check out our Gluten-Free Orange Almond Loaf Cake and Maple Almond Buckwheat Granola, too.
For the dry ingredients, a combination of gluten-free flours (almond, potato, and brown rice) gives it a light, cakey texture and beautiful crumb. The remaining cake essentials include baking powder for rise and salt for flavor.
After spreading the batter over the plums and baking, the fruit becomes bubbly and tender.
It’s then time to flip that cake on its head, slice, and enjoy!
We’re SO excited for you to try this plum cake! It’s:
Soft
Fluffy
Almondy
Fruit-studded
Perfectly sweet
& SO delicious!
It would be a beautiful brunch centerpiece or summer dessert for hosting! Enjoy it on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or coconut yogurt.
More Stone Fruit Favorites
- Fluffy Millet Breakfast Cake with Stone Fruit
- Peaches and Cream Overnight Oats
- Gluten-Free Strawberry Nectarine Crisp
- Perfect Peach Iced Tea
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Plum Upside Down Cake (Vegan + GF)
Ingredients
- 2-4 ripe plums or apricots*, pitted and thinly sliced into 1/4-1/2-inch slices (enough to cover the bottom of the pie pan)
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar (plus more for dusting pan)
- 1/4 cup softened vegan butter (plus more for greasing // we like Miyoko’s)
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
- 1 ½ cups almond flour (we like Wellbee’s)
- 1/2 cup dairy-free milk (plain, unsweetened // we used almond milk)
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) and grease a 9-inch pie pan generously with vegan butter. Dust the bottom of the pan with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Place the sliced plums in the sugar, arranging them in a circular pattern (see photo). Try to fill any large spaces with fruit.
- In a medium mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the sugar and softened vegan butter for about 30 seconds on high. Next, add applesauce and almond extract (optional). Beat again on high speed until light, fluffy, and pale in color — about 30 seconds.
- Add the almond flour and beat again until the mixture looks like cookie dough. Add the dairy-free milk and mix on medium-low speed until fully incorporated. Then add potato starch, brown rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix on medium speed until all of the flour is fully incorporated.
- Pour the cake batter on top of the halved plums, smoothing the top and (gently!) ensuring each plum is covered with batter. Note that the batter will spread and the cake will rise as it bakes.
- Bake the cake on the middle rack of your oven for 40-50 minutes until the top is golden brown, the plums are bubbling, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool for 20 minutes.
- When ready to flip the cake out of its pan, use whatever cake plate you plan to serve it on. Place the cake plate bottom side up on top of the pie pan. Carefully and confidently flip the cake onto the plate. Gently remove the pie plate, replacing any plum that gets left behind back into the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cake pairs well with dairy-free yogurt for a morning tea or brunch cake or with vanilla ice cream for dessert!
- Best when fresh. Store leftover cake at room temperature lightly covered for up to 2 days.
Video
Notes
*Prep time includes letting the cake cool for 20 minutes.
*Inspired by Ina Gartin’s Plum Cake Tatin.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.
Dani says
Can sorghum flour be used in place of almond flour at a 1 to 1 ratio? This looks AMAZING but I’m allergic to nuts.
Hi Dani, sorghum flour is more absorbent and also tends to yield more crumbly/less structured baked goods. If you want to experiment with it, we’d suggest starting with half the amount and working your way up until the batter resembles the photos.
Ruby says
I would love to try this recipe! It looks so delicious and easy to make :) Do you think it would work with pineapples as fruit topping as well?
Hi Ruby, possibly! It might add too much moisture, but we would have to test it to know for sure. Let us know if you try it out!
Anna K says
Made this as written and use pluots for the fruit, it was delicious! I can’t wait to make this again and experiment with other fruit toppings.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Anna! Thank you for the lovely review! xo
Dav says
It was very tasty and made me super full for the whole morning. I did all purpose flour I didn’t have applesauce, butter and nectarines. Instead I used coconut oil and can peaches. I also used less sugar. Thank you for the recipe !
Anna says
I was wondering, is it correct the equivalence from cups to grams of the almond flour? It is written 360 mL and I would like to know the amount in grams. Thank you! :)
Thank you for letting us know about the error, Anna! It should be 168 grams.
Anna says
Trying it this week!! Do you think using coconut or olive oil instead of the vegan butter would alter the texture of the cake?
Hi Anna, we think it might change it slightly, but would be worth a try!
Elisha says
I made this for Father’s Day and everyone enjoyed it! I subbed a ripe banana instead of the sugar and we had it for breakfast. It’s a nice summer recipe!
We’re so glad everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing, Elisha!
Rumy says
Great recipe! Thank you,Dana!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the lovely review, Rumy! xo
Emma says
If you don’t need this to be gluten free (and don’t have Brown Rice Flour or Potato Starch but you do have Almond Flour) what would you suggest? AP Flour all the way or some Almond some AP? My daughter wants to make this today for her father for Father’s Day breakfast in the morning and hoping you can shed some light. Thank you!!! He Loves Plums and were running to the Farmers Market now.
Hi Emma, Hope we’re not too late in replying! We’d recommend almond flour + all purpose flour for the best result. Probably about 2/3 cup all purpose flour in place of the potato starch + brown rice flour. Let us know how it goes!
Stacey says
This looks amazing! Can you suggest an alternative to the cane sugar?
Also, would nectarines work well as a substitute, or would you consider them too sweet as you said peaches would be?
Hi Stacey, cane sugar is pretty key in this one! Coconut sugar would be the next best option, but we can’t guarantee the texture will hold up and note the color will be darker. We think nectarines would work!
Joanne says
Hi!
I love your recipes and this looks delicious. Would coconut butter be an appropriate substitute for vegan butter or are the weights too different?
Hi Joanne, do you mean coconut oil? We don’t think coconut butter would work, but possibly coconut oil if you don’t mind a slight coconut flavor. It would be the same amount in grams. We haven’t tested it though, so can’t guarantee the texture will be the same. Let us know if you try it!
Katarina says
This looks amazing! I know the whole point of this is an *almond* cake, but I’m allergic to nuts! :( Do you have any recommendations for substitutes for almond flour (in this recipe or just in general)? Thanks!
Hi Katarina, we find almond flour is pretty key in vegan gluten-free cakes for a good crumb texture. If you can have all-purpose flour or can tolerate eggs, using recipes with those ingredients would be your best bets. If using all-purpose flour in a recipe that calls for almond flour, keep in mind it’s more absorbent so you won’t need as much of it. If vegan + gluten-free, that’s more tricky, but experimenting with a mix of cassava flour, coconut flour (if you can have coconut), and arrowroot starch would probably be your best bet. Hope that helps!
Deborah Sason says
Any recommendations for subs for brown rice flour? Thanks!
Hi Deborah, perhaps a gluten-free flour blend or oat flour? We can’t guarantee it will turn out the same though!
K says
Just making sure that it’s really 1/4 cup softened butter? The video looks like 1 stick, but maybe it’s a small stick? Thanks!
Hi, 1/4 cup is correct. In the video we used Miyoko’s, which is a little different in size/shape than most sticks of butter. Enjoy!
Leslie Sparkman says
Do you think you could make this cake with Gluten free flour or with a Paleo Flour that already has the almond flour, potato starch etc?
Hi Leslie, it’s hard to say without knowing the ratio of the flours in that blend. If it’s pretty heavy on almond flour, it might work! If not, perhaps half almond flour and half that blend? You’ll likely need to play around with it until the batter resembles the photos/video. Let us know if you do some experimenting!