Plum Torte

One of the tastes that has always meant fall for me is Marian Burros’ plum torte.  You can make it with regular plums, but it’s really meant to be made with the little Italian prune-plums, which are one of the few fruits that still seems to be seasonal — they’re only available in late August and September.  (And they seem to be much harder to find in the DC area than in New York — maybe because there’s not much of an Italian population here?)

The recipe appeared almost every year in the NY Times when I was growing up, until one year Burros finally wrote that this was the last time, and if you wanted it, you should cut it out for cripessake.  (The Times reprinted it again a year or two ago.)  It’s one of the few cakes I can remember my mother baking (she’s an excellent cook, but has never been particularly into baking) and one that I’ve made dozens of times.  It’s delicious, incredibly easy to make, and travels well, so it’s perfect for a potluck.

This summer, Cook’s Illustrated ran a recipe for a Rustic Plum Cake that is based on Burros’ recipe.  But they didn’t like the cake base, so added ground almonds (and reduced the butter slightly) and they poached the plums in a bit of jam.  Sounded interesting.  So when I saw a 5 pound box of Italian prune-plums at Costco last week, I knew what I was baking.

The Cook’s Illustrated version is good.  But I like the old version too.  I found the almond taste a bit overpowering — I think I might use the ground almonds, but pass on the almond extract.  And I don’t think the extra flavor of the cooked plums was enough to justify the extra effort, and additional dirty pot.

Either way, I don’t think you can go wrong.

6 Responses to “Plum Torte”

  1. Betsy Says:

    Oh! This is one of my favorite recipes as well, although I have to confess that I’ve made it with thin pear slices put in vertically into the cake batter as well.

  2. merseydotes Says:

    Oooh, I saw prune plums at the Kingstowne Farmers Market on Friday but didn’t buy them because I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I will definitely have to try this if the market has more prune plums on Friday.

  3. merseydotes Says:

    Oooh, I saw prune plums at the Kingstowne Farmers Market on Friday but didn’t buy them because I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I will definitely have to try this if the market has more prune plums on Friday.

  4. Zinemama Says:

    Mm, this sounds great.
    But do you by chance have a tried and true recipe for Honey Cake? I go through this every year as Rosh Hashanah approaches. Nothing ever comes out quite right.

  5. Elizabeth Says:

    I’m not sure I’ve ever made honey cake. The past couple of years I’ve made an apple cake for Rosh Hashonah, but it has enough rum in it that it doesn’t all cook off, which means my husband won’t eat it (all alcohol tastes bitter to him). A friend gave us Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Baking book, which I’m sure has a honey cake recipe or two.

  6. trishka Says:

    my husband brought home a bunch of prune plums yesterday! (no idea where he found them. probably picked them off somebody’s tree).
    i may take a stab at baking this for him as a surprise treat. thanks for the recipe, E.

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