Cornmeal Ricotta Upside Down Plum Cake
This cornmeal and ricotta upside down cake has a cheesecake-like consistency and can be made with whatever fruit your heart desires. It’s also helping to bake a difference with OXO Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
This is my fifth year making a dessert for the annual OXO Cookies for Kids’ Cancer fundraiser, and I look forward to working on this post every year. I adore OXO and their commitment to raising money for this cause. I’ve made cookies, muffins, cupcakes, and chocolate cookie bars.
This year, I chose this ricotta and cornmeal cake from Elisabeth Prueitt’s Tartine All Day. I love ricotta in baked goods and use it frequently in muffins and pancakes, but this cake was unlike anything I’ve baked before. You might expect the texture to be similar to cornbread, but it’s actually much closer to cheesecake.
The original recipe calls for oranges, but I couldn’t resist using plums since they’re one of my favorite fruits for baking. The cake is naturally gluten-free, made with a combination of cornmeal and almond flour. It’s also adaptable for any season. I’m already imagining it with cranberries in late fall and meyer lemons in the spring.
I used OXO POP containers for this recipe, and they’ve helped keep my pantry organized for probably ten years now. I’ve got stacks of them filling my pantry. They were recently updated to be fully dishwasher safe, and I love them even more now. The new accessories that snap onto the underside of the lids, like the terracotta brown sugar keeper, make them more functional than ever.
I wrote this post as part of my partnership with OXO. They provided me with a set of OXO POP Containers, but all opinions are my own. OXO is donating $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for each post, and I’m happy to partner with them for this wonderful cause.
- YIELD: 8-10 servings
Unsalted butter, for the pan
½ cup firmly packed (90g) light or dark brown sugar, or granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
4 plums, thinly sliced
½ cup (110g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs, separated
¾ cup (180g) ricotta cheese
Finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons
1 teaspoon sea salt
⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (55g) stone-ground cornmeal
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (130g) almond flour
This recipe calls for a springform pan, but I suspect it can be made in a regular cake pan, as well. If using a springform, I suggest placing it on top of a parchment-lined baking sheet if you’re at all worried about it leaking. I lost a bit of the sugar syrup from mine and am glad I took that precaution.
- 1
Heat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan with 3-inch sides with parchment paper cut to fit exactly. Butter the sides of the pan.
- 2
In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar or granulated sugar and water together to form a paste and then spread it across the bottom of the pan. Arrange the plum slices on top of the sugar paste, overlapping them with one in the center. Try to cover as much of the bottom of the pan as possible; the slices will shrink slightly during baking.
- 3
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the yolks one at a time to the butter mixture beating well after each addition. Add the ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. Beat to combine. Mix the cornmeal and almond flour into the egg-ricotta mixture. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- 4
In another bowl, whisk the reserved egg whites to soft peaks. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the beaten whites into the cake batter just until no white streaks are visible. (The batter will be very thick.) Immediately turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.
- 5
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the top of the cake is no longer shiny. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. To unmold, run a butter knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake and then release and lift off the pan sides. Invert the cake, remove the pan bottom, peel off the parchment, and serve.
The cake will keep, well wrapped, for up to 4 days at room temperature or about 1 week in the refrigerator.
