Original Plum Torte

By Marian Burros

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Rating: 5(13,772)
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

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.)

Tip

To freeze, double-wrap the torte in foil, place in a plastic bag and seal.

Ratings

5 out of 5

13,772 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Mary6 years ago

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 Wong6 years ago

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.

KLD6 years ago

Sifted flour means sift then measure.
Flour, sifted means measure them sift.

Yury6 years ago

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 ;)

John6 years ago

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!

Marty6 years ago

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.

juleezee6 years ago

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 Nelson6 years ago

A 9" pan gives greater height and moisture to the tart than a 10" pan.

Jen in Astoria6 years ago

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.

Cris6 years ago

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.

MsBlucher6 years ago

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.

Sue Llewellyn6 years ago

Springform or not, shouldn't we grease (butter) the pan?

Bohemian6 years ago

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.

Greg6 years ago

Dear god, this is good.

Ela6 years ago

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.

LBS2 days ago

Used an 8x8 parchment lined and buttered pan. Added 1 tsp vanilla to batter as others recommend. Otherwise followed exactly and it was as easy and delicious as everyone says. Saved the recipe and will use for any ripe fruit.

K3 days ago

Has potential but very underwhelming for one of the highest rated NYTCooking recipes. I like how easy it comes together. It is beautiful when finished! In the future I will add 1 tsp of salt to the dry ingredients as well as 1 tsp of vanilla and a 1/2 tsp of almond extract to the batter. I will also adjust the cooking time to 35-45 minutes.

Vicki5 days ago

1 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 8 inch pan Top with sugar, cinnamon, lemon

Sandy6 days ago

My sister has an abundance of red plums & asked me to bake something with plums. I immediately thought of this recipe. We had a family reunion. It was a great hit! I wanted to get seconds & a picture but I was too late. BTW sister didn't have a mixer so I hand beat the soft butter & sugar with a wooden spoon for a minute.

Camila6 days ago

Just wow. Great way to use a bountiful harvest of plums since they don't keep well. This deserves all five stars.

AliceBlock6 days ago

This morning, I made a version of this recipe using olive oil instead of butter and a 1/4 cup of cornmeal with 3/4 cup of flour. It was hot and the butter was frozen so I had to quickly improvise because there was a platter of plums sitting on the counter and the temperature was rising. Time was of the essence. I baked it in an 8" spring form pan. The cake required a full hour to bake. My only regret is that I didn't use more fruit. The notes were an essential ingredient in my improvising.

Nessa1 week ago

Wonderful recipe to use all these plums in our backyard! I substituted 3/4 of the flour with almond flour and reduced the sugar by a quarter cup and it turned out delectable.

R. Quint1 week ago

I made this again just the other day and made the mistake of using very ripe plums and ended up with the dreaded “ runny bottom “ , however it tasted extremely delicious, so not a total loss. Just not a great presentation.

AT1 week ago

1 US cup flour = 125 grams 1/2 US cup butter = 114 grams

Lisa1 week ago

I substitute 1/3 cup medium coarse cornmeal for 1/3 cup of the flour. It adds a lovely texture.

Jack1 week ago

Easy and delicious. I’ve made this many times using different fruits and berries.

MSL - NY1 week ago

I’ve been making this with sour cherries when Italian plums are not available. In my opinion it is much better with a tart fruit.

Joan1 week ago

So easy and delicious! I used black plums, and added 2 Tablespoons of rum to the batter, per the suggestion of a friend. Also, I added some coarse sugar to the top for some crunch.

idk2 weeks ago

Joining the thousands who love this recipe--the grandkids and I made it yesterday with frozen homegrown berries. Just dusted them with flour and dropped them on top in lumps, then swooshed a knife around to marble them in. Very easy, one bow, one pan, and delicious.

Julie, Sonoma2 weeks ago

This is a great recipe to have in your pocket, especially when you are at a rental house. Bring the dry ingredients (including some cinnamon or nutmeg) with you so you don't have to buy them. Eggs and butter will always be around. Any kind of fruit works, any size pan, you don't need a mixer, you can even bake it in a gas grill. The possibilities are endless and it is always perfect.

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