By Marian Burros
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- 5(13,579)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The Times published Marian Burros’s recipe for Plum Torte every September from 1983 until 1989, when the editors determined that enough was enough. The recipe was to be printed for the last time that year. “To counter anticipated protests,” Ms. Burros wrote a few years later, “the recipe was printed in larger type than usual with a broken-line border around it to encourage clipping.” It didn’t help. The paper was flooded with angry letters. “The appearance of the recipe, like the torte itself, is bittersweet,” wrote a reader in Tarrytown, N.Y. “Summer is leaving, fall is coming. That's what your annual recipe is all about. Don't be grumpy about it.” We are not! And we pledge that every year, as summer gives way to fall, we will make sure that the recipe is easily available to one and all. The original 1983 recipe called for 1 cup sugar; the 1989 version reduced that to ¾ cup. We give both options below. Here are five ways to adapt the torte.
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- ¾ to 1cup sugar
- ½cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1cup unbleached flour, sifted
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt (optional)
- 2eggs
- 24halves pitted purple plums
- Sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, for topping
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
364 calories; 13 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 45 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 81 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step
2
Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well.
Step
3
Spoon the batter into a springform pan of 8, 9 or 10 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon juice, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, depending on how much you like cinnamon.
Step
4
Bake 1 hour, approximately. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and serve plain or with whipped cream. (To serve a torte that was frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.)
- To freeze, double-wrap the torte in foil, place in a plastic bag and seal.
Ratings
5
out of 5
13,579
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Mary
Hi - I'd like clarification on the flour --- 1 C flour, sifted - is that one cup of flour and sift and add, or sift the flour to equal one cup of flour - makes a difference. Thank you.
Jan Wong
In 1988 my Toronto newspaper was about to post me to Beijing as a foreign correspondent. Alas, my house wasn't selling. I'd read that the fragrance of baking helps so I bought a frozen loaf of bread, and warmed it in the oven. No sale. Desperate, I baked this torte for an open house. Ta-dah! With the kitchen infused with the sweet perfume of Original Plum Torte, the house sold.
KLD
Sifted flour means sift then measure.
Flour, sifted means measure them sift.
Yury
Hello, i'm from Russion Federation. This is exellent. I'm cooced it every weekend. My children very liked this pie. I not very well know English. Sorry for mistake. From Russia with love ;)
John
Made this last night after tasting the one made by our daughter. Used raspberries and blackberries, one basket each, instead of plumbs, and 1/3 c. cornmeal and 2/3 c. flour. Fantastic!!! The cornmeal adds a very sophisticated "Italian" character to it, very slight crunch, and amazing flavor. Topped with coarse sugar before baking. Did this in a motorhome convection oven for 50 minutes. Perfect dessert with whipped cream, flavored with a few pureed berries and sugar/vanilla. So easy!
Marty
This was GREAT. Sliced the plums and arranged them in a fan pattern -- better than halves because prettier and more evenly distributed over cake. Added lemon zest and sliced slivered almonds. Next time I would toss the plums in the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, almonds, and cinnamon, because the cinnamon and the zest clumped up when sprinkled. Will also experiment with other fruits.
juleezee
A nice recipe for Obstkuchen, the German-speaking bakers' classic! I grew up on this cake and have been making it for many, many years now. It can be made with any neutral vegetable oil too. Use any kind of nice fruit or berries, just make sure that they are firm, otherwise they can release too much juice during baking. Also, grease the the round or square pan, line the bottom with parchment and grease that one too. No springform required, but it's nice if you have one.
J. David Nelson
A 9" pan gives greater height and moisture to the tart than a 10" pan.
Jen in Astoria
Note: My Mom makes this all the time and it's a family and guest favorite. It freezes PHENOMENALLY well--her usual tactic is to wait until it's cool, then into the fridge, THEN when it's really cool you wrap it first in plastic wrap and then in foil REALLY well, like you're launching it into space, and then into the freezer. Also works for leftover torte. If you have more than 1 springform pan make 2 and freeze one for Emergency Company Cake.
Cris
A delicious and indeed elegant torte. I have made it twice with these alterations: 50% almond meal; 50%brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. It also freezes well.
MsBlucher
Torte, schmorte. It's a delicious, homey dessert you can bake in just about anything - though a springform pan does make for a somewhat ritzier presentation - and top with whatever fruit is in season. My Polish mother made it in a rectangular metal pan all summer long (mmm...placek!), though the household favorite WAS the Italian/prune plum iteration. She used grated lemon rind and 1 t. vanilla in the batter, tightly-spaced skin-side down fruit, and ground cloves instead of cinnamon atop.
Bohemian
Plums must have been a lot smaller in 1982. I only needed 4 plums (8 halves).
The size of the pan is also going to affect cooking time, rise height, and so on. I used a 9" pan and increased the recipe for the batter to 1 1/2 times. Perfect.
It only took 45 minutes to cook. It would have burned if I'd left it an hour like it said. I could smell it and tested with a toothpick and stopped at 45 minutes when it came out clean.
Sue Llewellyn
Springform or not, shouldn't we grease (butter) the pan?
Greg
Dear god, this is good.
Ela
My favorite recipe from NYT - annual ritual for 20 years!
Baked with - apricots, apples and cranberries when off season.
Also used half whole wheat flour and was perfect. This year sliced the plums thinly and layerd tightly like rose petals - still the best.
Cooking notes
Added 1 tsp cinnamon, omitted lemon juice, 3/4 cup sugar, cooked for 55 min. Used 4 plums that filled pan, next time would do more like 6 and squeeze as much in as possible
Carolyn
I am making this torte for the second time. It is so easy and delicious.
Julianne
I can fully understand the reader pushback in 1989. I made this in late Summer ’23 for the first time with an assortment of fresh, local plums (some of them harvested by us!), and I was simply blown away by how good this was. It will definitely be an annual ritual for us, too, from now on!
ea
Agree with replacing 1/3 flour with cornmeal. Lemon zest on the top with the sugar instead of lemon juice. No cinnamon. Strawberries hulled and placed point-up. Only had medium eggs so added an extra egg white. Only 3/4 cup sugar.
Liat
Eh. Nothing special, very dense. Followed to the letter, just used brown sugar instead of regular.
Anj
Idk why there was no instruction to grease the pan beforehand.
Keela
Hi there! Thoughts on using olive oil instead of butter? If a thumbs up, what would the measurements be?Thanks!
Nancy
We loved this when made according to the recipe, although with the smaller amount of sugar and the plums sliced. Then I swapped half the flour for almond flour and it reached a whole new level. I have an adult daughter who has always claimed not to like cake. Last visit, she took the whole uneaten portion home with her. Even she loves it!
Nina
Has anyone ever added cardamom?
Bob
Very good. We substitute corn meal for half of the flour. Wonderful….
Dml
The effort to taste ratio of this tart makes it the perfect dessert. I had out of season plums and this still came out delicious. 55 minutes cook time was perfect for me. I added sugar and lemon to plums on bowl before topping. This would work with any stone fruit. Batter is chewy and delicious.
Katie
Each time I make this, my plums sink into the torte, leaving only a trace of bubbly plum juice or a sink of cinnamon behind. The torte isn’t crashing, it’s just eating the plums up like quick sand. Still tasty, just different. Does anyone else have this happen reliably? Could it be a high altitude thing?
Keela
For another recipe with the same issue, they recommended to dust fruit with flour. I did this with marionberries and it worked for this torte…
Melissa P
I always make this with canned peaches, drained and patted dry, baked in a fluted torte pan. It is just so simple and so good.
Monica Welch
Also, use 8.5” springform. The 9.5 is too big, torte is too flat.
Lolllee
I also request weight be added to measurements. Like another reviewer my batter was too thick. I've baked many cake recipes from cookbooks and internet and I've never had one be this thick before. I had to research how to thin cake batter and it came off the beaters after I added another egg and 2 tbs sour cream. I'm not sure what that will do to my cake. I've baked many cake recipes from cookbooks and internet and I've never had one be this thick before.
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