Holiday Baking Recipes | Mini Plum Upside-Down Cakes

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I close my eyes and I see a winter coat. Furry, soft, black my favorite color when it comes to coats. The nostalgic dream doesn't end there. We are in a big garment factory and there we are standing in front of aisles of coats. Beautiful ones getting ready to be worn for the upcoming winter. It will be my first winter in US and am secretly praying there will be snow, lots of it so that I could make a snow man.

On that day, after much prodding from my roommates I chose a woolen coat with big buttons but sadly the price was exorbitant. Not something I could afford with my meager salary from working at our University food court. But my heart pleads to go for it...and I did. I was a proud owner of my first ever black furry coat. For many many winters after that, I remember digging my mitten-covered hands into its pockets and walking on snow filled streets. Many coats came later that but the memory of shopping for my first one is always special. :-)

Just like in the 90's, I am still obsessed with fresh or dried aloo bukhara. This ruby colored fruit is from plum/prune family and is a bit tart + sweet to taste. Biting into it takes me back to my grandmom's house where she used to bring home these luscious fruits every time they are in season. Few months ago, a good friend of my dad sent us a bag full of freshly harvested fruit from his backyard. Resisting the urge to eat them right way and making the usual jams or chutneys, I made few upside down mini cakes with them which turned out to be super moist and delicious. :-)

Mini Plum (Aloo Bukahra) Upside Down Cakes

Since the fruit is pre-cooked in the sugar syrup before hand, it becomes slightly mushy once taken out of the ramekins. But it tastes yumm nonetheless and the fine balance of flavors made the effort well worth it. Any other firm seasonal fruit available on hand can be easily substituted in this recipe. 

Makes 6 mini cakes + 3-4 cup cakes

Ingredients:

For the cake batter:

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

For the topping:

1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup plum wedges

Preparation:

1. Melt a tbsp of butter, sugar and add plum wedges. Mix well until they are even coated and cook for 2 to 3 mins. Turn off heat.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.

3. Beat well for 2 to 3 mins on medium speed using electric mixer or whisk rigorously with hand.

4. Add flour mixture half cup at-a-time and Mix everything until just combined.

5. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C. Grease ramekins with butter and place a layer of fruit at the bottom. Top with few spoonfuls of cake batter and evenly distribute it.

6. Place these ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for a 5 to 10 minutes. Gently invert each ramekin and unmould the cakes. Serve.

I had just a few spoonfuls of cake batter and plum wedges left. I applied the same technique of layering the fruit at the bottom, topping with batter and baked for 8 to 10 mins until a tooth pick inserted came out clean.  These upside-down cupcakes I must tell you were too adorable to eat. :-)

This is Recipe 63 added to 2013 Recipe Archive. Check out the rest of the recipes too.

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