This delicious upside down plum cake is easy to make with simple ingredients that you probably already have at home. The recipe is vegan (dairy-free, egg-free), gluten-free, oil-free, and much healthier than other recipes.
Vegan Upside Down Plum Cake
How awesome are upside down cakes? I love them because they are fun to make, and they are quite healthy since they contain fruit. You can make them with kids and use your favorite fruit of choice.
I love this upside down plum cake because it is:
- Easy to make with simple ingredients.
- A great summer dessert which isn’t too heavy.
- Healthier than most other recipes.
How To Make The Best Upside Down Plum Cake?
- Check the easy step-by-step photos below:
- First, line the bottom of a cake pan or springform with parchment paper and preheat your oven.
- Wash, deseed and slice the plums. Arrange them on the bottom of the springform/cake pan. Drizzle with a tablespoon of sugar and maple syrup.
- Measure/weigh the dry ingredients and add them all to a big bowl. Stir with a whisk.
- Mash the banana (or use applesauce) and combine it with the wet ingredients. You can also use a blender or food processor.
- Whisk dry and wet ingredients together and pour the batter into the cake pan/springform.
- Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, then allow to cool and peel off the parchment paper.
- Enjoy warm or cold!
Simple Ingredients
This cake contains only simple ingredients that you most likely already have at home. The main ingredients are ground oats (oat flour) and ground nuts. You can use any nuts of choice, for example, ground almonds, hazelnuts, etc.
Shredded unsweetened coconut can be used instead of ground nuts. Please don’t use coconut flour. It won’t work in this recipe!
Please don’t substitute any regular flour (except almond flour) for the ground nuts. Since the recipe is oil-free, there needs to be a source of fat.
To make the cake grain-free, you could experiment with buckwheat flour or sorghum flour (instead of oat flour). I haven’t tried it myself but it should work. If you give it a try, please report back in the comments.
Any plant-based milk can be used in this recipe. I prefer to use canned coconut milk, however, almond milk, cashew milk, etc. should work fine as well. The higher the fat content of the milk, the better the cake will taste.
How To Serve?
You can serve the cake with dairy-free ice cream or whipped coconut cream. Another option would be to drizzle a vegan caramel sauce on top.
Leftovers can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
Versatile Upside Down Plum Cake
I love how versatile this upside-down cake is. You can use other fruits instead of plums. Some examples would be:
- Pineapple, to make an upside down pineapple cake. Or what about:
- Apple
- Strawberry
- Peach
- Banana
- Pear
- Cherry
- Blueberry
- Orange
- Or lemon
Apricots are awesome as well, especially since they are in season now. I am actually looking forward to making an upside down mandarin cake in the wintertime.
This Upside Down Plum Cake Is:
- Egg-free,
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- Oil-free
- Low-fat
- Moist
- Fruity
- Perfect for summer or a birthday
- Versatile
Should you recreate this delicious plum cake, please leave a comment below and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I love to see your remakes! If you love vegan cakes, definitely also check out the following recipes:
- Coconut Cake
- Lava Cake
- Zucchini Chocolate Cake
- No-Bake Carrot Cake
- Fruity Cheesecake
- Baked Cheesecake
Upside Down Plum Cake
Video
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (150 g) oat flour (gluten-free if needed - see notes)
- ¾ heaped cup (100 g) ground nuts of choice (see notes)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sweetener of choice (see notes)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp allspice (optional)
- ½ tsp cardamom (optional)
- ⅓ tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) plant-based milk (see notes)
- 1 small (80 g) ripe mashed banana or 1/3 cup applesauce
- 1 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
- 3-4 plums sliced (see notes)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- I recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe.
- Preheat oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Line the bottom of an 8-inch springform or cake pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the sides of the springform.
- Wash, deseed and slice the plums. Arrange them in an overlapping layer on the bottom of the springform/pan. Drizzle with maple syrup and sugar. Set aside.
- For the cake, combine all dry ingredients in a big bowl. Stir with a whisk until there are no lumps.
- Whisk together wet ingredients in a different bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir with a whisk. Spoon the batter into the cake pan/springform and spread it out evenly.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before inverting the cake on a platter. Carefully peel off the parchment paper.
- Cool for 10 more minutes, then slice and enjoy! The cake can be served with vegan whipped cream or ice cream!
Notes
- Oat flour: To make your own oat flour, simply process oats (regular or gluten-free) in a blender or electric coffee/spice grinder. You can try using buckwheat flour for a grain-free version. Also, regular flour or spelt flour (for a non-gluten-free version) could work well in this recipe (I haven't tried it myself though).
- Shredded unsweetened coconut can be used instead of ground nuts. Please don't use coconut flour. It won't work in this recipe! Please don't substitute any regular flour (except almond flour) for the ground nuts. Since the recipe is oil-free, there needs to be a source of fat.
- Granulated sweetener: You can use regular sugar, cane sugar, Erythritol, Xylitol (birch sugar), coconut sugar, etc.
- Any plant-based milk can be used in this recipe. I prefer to use canned coconut milk, however, almond milk, cashew milk, etc. should work fine as well. The higher the fat content of the milk, the better the cake will taste.
- Feel free to use your favorite fruit instead of plums. Some examples are apricots, oranges, mandarines, pineapple!
- You can also check out my Plum And Apple Crumble Recipe.
- The recipe serves 10. Nutrition facts are for one serving.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Equipment
„Simple and Delicious Vegan“ Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Made it 3-4 times now and every time it’s such a hit with vegans and non vegans alike. I use 100g dates to sweeten the dough for my refined-sugar free friends. And I’ve used a variety of fruit – just plums, plums and pears, apples and plums, and most recently orange and pear which was just a dream! My extra secret ingredient has been lemon or orange zest mixed into the dough as well. Served with dairy or non-dairy cream or yogurt, it’s to die for and VERY easy to make. A bit crumbly but that’s because I add extra nuts for crunch. Thanks for such a delicious recipe! I’m planning on trying grapefruit and orange next!
This makes me so happy to read, thank you so much, Maria. 🥹
I love that you’re playing around with the fruit combos, orange and pear sounds absolutely dreamy.
Sweetening with dates is such a good idea, and the citrus zest in the dough is honestly a genius move. And yes, extra nuts always mean extra happiness, even if it gets a bit more crumbly. 😄
I made this today and it was sooooo good!! Came out perfect!
Yay, that makes me so happy to hear! 😊
So glad it came out perfect and you enjoyed it that much. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback!
Super! I just made this plum cake today with some Italian plums. Fabulous!
That sounds amazing, so glad you loved it! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
I got this recipe today in my inbox and it looked so good that I made it this afternoon. It turned out really well and I was happy that the cake was nice and moist.. I made it as written and used a regular 8″ round pan and it came out perfectly. I also dusted the cake slices with some powdered sugar. My husband loved it too. Thank you!
So happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed the cake! Thanks for trying the recipe and sharing your feedback. 💕
Such a delicious recipe, and easy to make. Pretty to look at, too!
Hi Bonnie, I am so glad you like the cake. Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Thank you ever so much for this delicious recipe of upside down plum cake.
I am definitely staying with you as I know I will be using many of you recipes!
Thank you!
Aww, you are very welcome, Jana. I am happy you like the cake. 🙂
I made this exactly as the recipe was written. Delicious!
That’s awesome, Mary Claire. I am so glad you liked the plum cake. 🙂
Hi Ela, thanks for the recipe, looks very testy! Im so looking forward to try it!
I have some frozen plums, can I normally use them or should I change something in that case?
Hey, it should work with frozen plums. I would let them thaw and remove excess liquid.
Does this cake freeze well? I have some plums that need to be used up and I think this would be a great dessert for Christmas. I have one family member that has an egg allergy and another that is gluten sensitive.
Hi Karen, that should be fine. 🙂
Oh my gosh I ate the whole thing in one day. I combined spelt and oat flours, and I used almond flour and flaxseed in place of the ground nuts. Since I used 1% milk and maybe not the full 100g of ground nut substitute, at the last minute I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough fat and I added about a tablespoon of avocado oil to the batter. That may not have been necessary but it did come out really moist! It was so good.
So glad it turned out well. 🙂
Thank you for the recipe. I replaced the granulated sugar substitute with dates, which I blended with the wet ingredients. I used the same quantity. The cake turned out tasty, but a little bit too moist. I wonder what quantity of dates I should use next time.
Hi Laura, I haven’t tried the recipe with dates, yet. Maybe you can bake it a little longer next time. 🙂
can I use egg of yogurt instead of the fruit puree? ♡
Hey, I never tried it, but it might work fine.