Autumn is a wonderful time of year. The season’s transition brings cooler temps, falling leaves, and bountiful fruits — stealing the show in many fall and winter baked goods.
A favorite recipe is New York Times cookbook author and food columnist Marian Burros’s iconic Original Plum Torte. It’s a gracious dessert, easy to assemble, endlessly adaptable, and practically no-fail.
The recipe calls for Italian purple plums, a handful of ingredients, a bowl, and a spoon. Since the Italian plum is a rare find in supermarkets, you can adapt the recipe by substituting the purple plums with other varieties of plums, berries, peaches, apples, or figs.
The torte is delicious, served on its own, with ice cream or creme fraiche. It’s an all-around winner any time of year!
1 hour 15 minutes
Original. Plum Torte Ingredients
Yield: 8 servings
- ¾ to 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup unbleached flour sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt (optional)
- 2 large eggs
- 24 halves pitted purple plums
- Sugar (I use Turbinado Sugar), lemon juice, and cinnamon for the topping
Preparation: Original Plum Torte
Step 1: Heat the 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.
Step 4: Bake for 1 hour, approximately. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and serve plain or with creme fraiche or whipped cream. (To serve a frozen torte, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.)
Tips
- The original 1983 recipe called for 1 cup of sugar; the 1989 version reduced that to ¾ cup.
- You may also line your oven with foil as some fruits produce lots of juice.
- To freeze, double-wrap the torte in foil, place it in a plastic bag, and seal.