Vegan plum upside down cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take a 9” round cake pan and using a spatula, grease the sides of the pan with coconut oil or neutral oil. Take a piece of parchment paper and place the cake pan on top. Use a pen or pencil to trace a circle around the edges. Use scissors to cut out the circle shape. Place the parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.
2. Wash and pat dry plums. Using a paring knife, halve plums and remove pits. Take your paring knife and quarter each plum half, trying to make sure each piece is approximately the same size.
3. Once quartered, place your first plum slice on the parchment paper circle on the outer edge, vertically. Fill the rest of the outer rim following the first plum, fitting the slices neatly, evenly, and tightly in a concentric circle. Repeat the pattern on a second inner ring. Save 3 slices to place horizontally in the middle of the inner ring. Your design does not need to be perfect, we’re aiming for rustic!
4. Sprinkle the 2 tbsp of dark brown sugar evenly over the plums.
5. In a large bowl, sift flour and combine the remaining dry ingredients. Whisk thoroughly with a fork and ensure there are no lumps.
6. In your measuring cup, add coconut milk and apple cider vinegar to create a curdle.
7. Add coconut milk mixture and olive oil to the dry ingredients. Continue mixing until there are no dry pieces and is thoroughly combined.
8. Once mixed, pour evenly over the plums. Use a spatula to gently smooth out the mixture.
9. Place in preheated oven and bake for 45 – 50 minutes, until top is golden brown.
10. Once finished, turn off oven and remove cake. Let sit 3 – 4 minutes. The cake will cool completely once we flip.
11. For the flip: Take a large plate and using hot pads place the plate on top of the cake pan and hold firmly the plate and the pan. Confidently flip the pan and plate and place on the counter. The cake should slide cleanly from the pan. Great job!
12. Now, carefully pull off the parchment paper, making sure not to displace any plums (if you do, just use a fork to place them back in the cake. The longer you wait to pull your parchment paper, the stickier the plums will be, making it harder to separate.
13. From the plate, gently slide your cake over to a cool rack. Let cool fully for 25 minutes.
14. While cooling, prepare the coconut whipped cream.
15. Slice your cake, top with whipped cream, serve, and enjoy! Best the day it’s prepared but keeps well in the fridge about 3 days.

To make the coconut whipped cream:

1. The night before, place a can of full fat coconut milk upside down in the fridge. This will separate the cream from the liquid.

2. Open chilled can while still upside down, the liquid should have risen to the top. Drain liquid, save it for smoothies, other baking, or just to drink! Scrape cream into a medium bowl. 

3. Using a hand mixer, whip cream for 1 – 2 minutes, until smooth + creamy. Add salt, vanilla, and maple syrup and whip for another 1 – 2 minutes, making sure there are no solid pieces left.

4. Keep whipped cream chilled until ready to use. Stir with a spoon before serving if any separation occurs. This whipped cream keeps well in the refrigerator about 2 – 3 days.