6 Amazing Plum Desserts

© Nicole Franzen

Make the most of summer plums with desserts like a tangy upside-down cake and Jacques Pépin's favorite tart.

Plum Upside-Down Cake

Pictured above, this beautiful cake from pastry chef Joanne Chang is moist and buttery, with plenty of sweet and tangy caramelized plums on top. It's served warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.

Summer Plum Crostata

This elegant tart is a great option for cooking in the bare-bones kitchen of a vacation rental or mountain cabin, since it doesn't require a special pan. Any firm-but-ripe plums will work perfectly here.

© Ken Kochey

Sweet Plum Focaccia

This focaccia is the perfect showcase for ripe plums, which caramelize in the oven as it bakes. The delicate sweetness from the fruit is contrasted by fragrant rosemary and a sweet-salty crunch from a sprinkle of turbinado sugar and flaky sea salt, yielding a balanced pastry that's perfect for pairing with a dessert wine.

Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Plum Galette

Jacques Pépin's gorgeous tart features buttery, flaky dough that comes together in 10 seconds in a food processor. You can make it with any seasonal fruit, such as rhubarb, peaches, cherries, apricots or apples.

© Con Poulos

Plum Puff Dumplings

For her elegant interpretation of fruit danish, Grace Parisi tosses wedges of big purple plums with sugar and cardamom, then pinches them into neat little puff pastry pockets and bakes them.

© Hallie Burton

Plum Cobbler

This fantastic cobbler is a great way to use an abundance of summer plums ⁠— the filling calls for 4 pounds.

© Lucy Schaeffer