Life has been pretty hectic the past few weeks, what with all the crazy weather (tornado in Brooklyn!), promoting the new book, rebuilding our dilapidated deck, and now hubby has left for 5 days to see his mother in Denver. I don't mind admitting, I've been feeling pretty upside-down. Which makes me think of cake.
So a few weeks ago, I came up with these upside down apple muffins for the Times column, but today I really wanted to bake a whole cake so I wouldn't have to scrub out 12 muffin tins. Last month, I did a riff of of this recipe for Honey-Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake using some gorgeous farmers market plums. It wasn't bad (and we ate the whole thing in about 5 minutes), but was just a tad richer and heavier than what I was looking for today.
Using the last of the weekend market plum haul I decided to re-do the recipe, this time subbing in a lighter cornmeal cake for the butter cake. I thought it would make a fantastic dessert when served with softly whipped cream or even a scoop of ice cream, but the wholesome vibe of the cornmeal also made it perfect for breakfast or tea time.
Did I mention hubby is out of town? This cake is all mine - for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are worse ways to make myself feeling right-side up again.
Plum Polenta Upside Down Cake
Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
1 3/4 pounds plums, rinsed, pitted, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream or ice cream for serving, optional
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9-inch Springform pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment and pan well.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the plums and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar, stirring occasionally, until the plums are tender and the liquid begins to reduce, about 20 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and the remaining 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one a time and beat to combine. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla.
5. Use a spatula to fold in the dry ingredients. Scrape the batter on top of the plums and smooth with a spatula. Bake until the cake is golden and springs back when touched lightly, 45 to 50 minutes.
6. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then unmold the sides and invert onto a plate. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.
Yield: 8 servings
That looks delicious! I like the cornmeal in it. You don't often find cakes like this with cornmeal.
Posted by: Sagan | 10/04/2010 at 08:25 PM
I'm a huge fan of fruity desserts! What a wonderful recipe! Delicious! Your Pics are mouthwatering! :)
Posted by: Sara | 10/04/2010 at 08:57 PM
Dessert for breakfast/lunch/dinner is a great way to keep your bearings on otherwise hectic days! I love this recipe, plums are so terrific this time of year. Also, I just finished reading your new book - I read it like a novel - and I stopped tabbing recipes halfway through because I want to cook everything! I think I'll start with the egg/polenta dinner when my husband is out of town next week and my almost 3yo will be running me ragged! :)
Posted by: Kelsey/TheNaptimeChef | 10/04/2010 at 09:18 PM
The cake looks perfect. I'll have to try it this Friday--my cake baking day! Yay. Maybe with Plouts. (My kiddies love Plouts.)
I had a chance to take a quick sneak peek inside your new cookbook at Picnic in Seattle (looking forward to seeing/meeting you there...). It is beautiful. I love that there are no photos in it! And your My Mother Kugel recipe was the last straw. Can't wait to put my hands on my own copy.
Posted by: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. | 10/05/2010 at 01:30 AM
Did you mean 1 cup... not 2 >> 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar?
And, so... only 1/2 cup flour?
Posted by: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. | 10/05/2010 at 03:25 PM
Kelsey - I make that when my hubby is out of town too, it's perfect after a solo bedtime....
Nurit, I changed the sugar, you were so right, thanks for the catch. But it is only 1/2 cup flour because of the cornmeal. Love the pluot idea by the way!
Posted by: Melissa | 10/05/2010 at 03:47 PM
I love upside down cake. Traditionally have always had pineapple but this summer tried a bing cherry one and now I'm hooked, or at least I'm dying to make this...looks fabulous!
Posted by: Barbara | VinoLuciStyle | 10/06/2010 at 07:08 PM
Wow, Melissa, this is SO good! The cake just cooled enough so I could take a bite (after taking dozens of photos)--Yum Yum.
I used only 1/4 cup sugar when cooking the pluots and I threw in 2 thyme sprigs and a tiny pinch of salt--I thought it'll be good since it's a polenta cake--it worked great. (I think it'll be fantastic in ice cream.)
Everything else I made just as instructed but my cake is only half as tall as yours. What have done wrong? Do you mind adding more detail? Maybe I did not beat the wet ingredients enough (eggs and butter mixture)?
Posted by: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. | 10/08/2010 at 03:47 PM
Nurit - LOVE the thyme sprigs idea - that sounds fantastic. About the height of the cake, it's probably the cake pan size- not all 9-inch pans are actually the same. If you measure several you'll see that some are 9, some 9 1/4 and some 9 1/2. My guess is that if we measured our pans, mine would be on the smaller side and yours on the larger side. Glad you enjoyed it though!
Posted by: Melissa | 10/09/2010 at 02:32 PM
My/your cake is posted, in case you're interested... http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2010/10/the-last-summer-cake/
Everyone loves it! The kids too! (I wasn'y sure they'd like the texture.) So good with whipped cream, of course :)
Posted by: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. | 10/11/2010 at 01:27 AM
Just made your upside-down caramel apple muffins from NY times with my 3 yr old son. They were really yummy with the carmelized apple/walnut combination on top.
Question: the muffin batter calls for 8 T melted butter; when mixing the wet ingredients the recipe only tells us to add 1/4 c. Is one of the amounts a typo? thanks
Posted by: Sheri | 10/11/2010 at 11:05 AM
Made the apple upside down muffins. The recipe is off and it takes longer than thirty minutes. Butter content is wrong, and the batter seemed way too dry. Muffins are ok, but not nearly as good as described in the NY Times recipe.
Posted by: john | 10/11/2010 at 11:14 AM
John and Sheri - Yes so sorry! There was an editing mistake in the recipe in the Times. The muffin batter should have 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter NOT 1/4 cup.
John that is why they came out dry for you, so so sorry about that!
Posted by: Melissa | 10/11/2010 at 11:26 AM
I think milk would have been a better than sour cream.
Posted by: john | 10/11/2010 at 03:55 PM
John - I tried it with milk actually, wasn't as good, at least to my taste, but it might be better for yours.Let me know if you try it.
Posted by: Melissa | 10/13/2010 at 10:21 AM
I lost my original print copy of the apple upside down muffins recipe. The corrected recipe as posted on NYTimes.com appears incomplete. The ingredients list for the topping lacks the apples (and sugar?). Could you please post the corrected full recipe? Thanks
Posted by: Dan | 10/14/2010 at 10:07 AM
I just made the updside-down caramel apple muffins. Its very wrong. I used i stick of butter for the batter not the 1/4 cup of butter that your mentioned in the script. The batter is more like a dough than batter. It needed more liquid. Did you leave an ingredient out. It was a waste of time. I've made many of your cooking recipes which were great but this one is a flop.
Madeline, Ridgefield, CT
Posted by: madeline jelinek | 10/21/2010 at 02:53 PM