If you’re a regular reader of the New York Times Cooking page, then you know that the beginning of fall means that it’s time to make the wildly popular Plum Torte. THE Plum Torte, as it is otherwise known. Highlighting the small Italian prune plums that ripen at the very end of summer into early fall, the recipe was developed by New York Times Food Editor, Marian Burros, and first published in the newspaper in 1983. It has since gained a cult-like status among devotees who would clamor for the recipe’s annual publication every September and it’s now the all-time most popular recipe ever published by the New York Times.
“Aside from its simplicity, the beauty of this recipe is that it is both very forgiving and superbly adaptable, allowing you to incorporate any fruit that suits the season or your fancy.”
I totally get the hype behind this recipe. It’s super-simple, requiring few ingredients and an uncomplicated, two-step prep; it’s amazingly adaptable, allowing use of any easily available, in-season fruit; and lastly, it’s phenomenally fantastic!
Given how much I love to cook, people are often surprised when I tell them that I do not enjoy baking nearly as much. I think the scientific precision of baking is what I find so confining and tedious. This recipe is so elementary and yet, elegant, that I can’t help but feel excited every time I make it—which says a lot, as I usually dread dragging out my clunky, heavy, anvil-like Kitchen-Aid mixer.
Aside from its simplicity, the brilliance of this recipe is that it is both very forgiving and superbly adaptable, allowing you to incorporate any fruit that suits the season or your fancy. Once I became comfortable with making this torte (it’s technically more appropriate to call it a cake), I began experimenting with a multitude of other fruits more easily available than the sometimes hard-to-find Italian prune plums, with their abbreviated season of availability. So far, I’ve experimented with standard-sized plums, apricots, pears, blackberries, red and black raspberries, strawberries, and cranberries; and the results have been unfailingly spectacular!
Feel free to switch in any other subtle flavor combinations you might prefer. For example, I almost always add in a teaspoon of vanilla extract, although sometimes, depending on the fruit I use, I might prefer almond extract. The recipe calls for sprinkling the cake with cinnamon and sugar before baking, and sometimes I do, but other times I just use turbinado sugar (raw sugar), or even lavender sugar. Whatever strikes my fancy as inspired by the fruit. Also, I’m a big fan of using citrus zest in this cake. My default is lemon, as it pairs nicely with any fruit, but during the holiday season, I love using fresh cranberries with orange zest, which makes for a delightful flavor combination as well as a particularly stunning presentation.
My hope is that if you make this recipe, you’ll have equally fantastic results and it will also become part of your go-to repertoire of no-fuss, yet elegant dessert options. I can’t tell you how many times my mind was eased knowing that I could focus more on the challenge of planning a dinner menu while having this easy, versatile classic in my back pocket, which I could freely adjust to suit the menu or the season. It’s perfect served with a simple dollop of whipped cream.
Click here for the Original Plum Torte recipe on the New York Times Cooking website. You might not be able to access the recipe without a subscription, so for your convenience, I’ve provided my adaptation of the original recipe below:
The Famous & Stupendously Easy Plum Torte
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (whichever you prefer)
1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest (or orange if using cranberries)
2 eggs
12 to 15 small Italian prune plums, pitted and halved (or approximately two-three cups of the fruit of your choice, cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces)
Turbinado or raw sugar for topping
PREPARATION:
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Lightly butter an 8 or 9 inch springform pan
- Using a hand or stand mixer, cream butter, sugar, and zest in a bowl on high until light in color (about 2 minutes)
- Add in flour, baking powder, salt, extract, and eggs, and then beat well (about 1 minute)
- Spoon batter into prepared springform pan and spread evenly (the batter will be thick, almost like cookie dough).
- Gently place your fruit of choice onto the top of the batter. Do not worry if you entirely cover the batter with fruit. The cake with puff up around the fruit, so more is good.
- Sprinkle with sugar
- Bake approximately 40-50 minutes (depends upon diameter of cake pan) or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean.
- Cool 5 minutes, remove ring, and then cool at least an additional hour before serving.
- This cake freezes wonderfully if well-wrapped.
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All photos and text by Stacey
