Plum Torte
This plum torte is the most requested recipe from The New York Times since it appeared on October 24, 2010. Adapted from Amanda Hesser’s The Essential New York Times Cookbook published by W. W. Norton, 2010. Amanda Hesser said that this recipe made its first appearance decades ago in Elegant But Easy, a cookbook by The New York Times journalist Marion Burros. I retrieved it from Leite’s Culinaria. My version follows.
Prepare
9″ springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the pan including the sides. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Ingredients
- 1 stick soften butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 2 large eggs
- 12 Italian plums or 6 red plums
- 1 TB sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Beat until light and fluffy, the sugar and butter. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt). Beat in the eggs one at a time. Spread the cake evenly in a springform pan. The recipe calls for cutting the plums in half and placing them skin up in the cake. I prefer to slice the plums and place them skin-side-up in the cake.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon. Next time I think I will cut the cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the cake as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon evenly over the cake.Place the the cake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 50-60 minutes. The torte will look golden and bubbly when ready. The lemon darkened the top of the cake. Next time, I think I will use the lemon in the cake batter. I also recommend sprinkling sugar and cinnamon on the plumbs before placing them in the cake (1/3 cup of the sugar and I tsp cinnamon) rather than on top. I sprinkled powder sugar on top to hide the dark top. Cool on a rack and unmold. We ate our first pieces warm and I was underwhelmed. it was good. However, at least 4 hours letter, the juices leached into the cake and it was delicious.
Update June 19 (Juneteenth and also Father’s Day this year) 2022
My plums were very ripe. I thought that would make the torte sweeter. However, it made the plums difficult to work with They lost a lot of juice in the cutting and did not maintain the curve when pressed into the torte. I am concerned that there will not be enough plum in every bite. I am baking at 325-degrees since I have both a dark pan and convection oven. I am not sure how it will turn out. I did not sugar the plums this time and did cut the cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. Note: I did not add the lost plum juice to the torte dough since it would possibly turn it gray and might alter the texture. It will be added to a smoothie instead.
