Fruit Salad
Ali Slagle
381 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
381
20 minutes
Original Plum Torte
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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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.
Powered byPreparation
- 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.
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.
Sue Llewellyn
Springform or not, shouldn't we grease (butter) the pan?
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.
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.
Laura
Oh the fruits you can use..... pears and fresh cranberry, nectarines and blackberries, figs and blackberries... endless deliciousness. I add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of vanilla and, for the sugar, I use 1/2 c brown sugar, 1/2 white sugar... It's fantastic!
Mary
Made recipe #2 in Vaughan Vreeland's video. Browned butter, let cool. For batter, combined 3/4 sugar w zest from 1 lemon. Sliced 9 plums, arranged any which way, sprinkled w juice of 1/2 lemon. Topped w 1/4 c sugar, then 1 tsp each cardamom, cinnamon. Lovely! Next time: use soft butter (not browned), cream w sugar. Keep lemon zest and lemon juice as is. For topping, mix cardamom + cinnamon (1/2 tsp each) into 1/4 c sugar, sprinkle over fruit. Do you prefer plums sliced (juicy!) or halved?
Andie
Should the pan be buttered? Doesn’t say in the recipe.
NECW
We've made it for years, with many different fruits. Last night we finally tried with figs, and it was the best ever!
Kathleen G.
Has anyone made this using last year's frozen plum halves and would you defrost them or use them frozen?
andy
Have been making this since it first appeared - not as often lately but I think this weekend is a good time to get one ready for Sunday company
Golem
There is no question that this is a great desert and surprisingly easy to make. HOWEVER, 24 halves of purple plums assumes these are the smaller Italian plums. Fewer of the larger plums, more likely available in the supermarket, are all that are necessary. On the other hand, more is better, so buy the plums and eat the leftovers.
Vern Paetkau (via Google Docs)
A finishing touch that adds to the overall enjoyment: after baking for an hour, pour a mix of 2 beaten eggs, 220 grams of sugar, and 40 grams of melted butter over the torte. Bake for another 30 minutes.
D. Carle
I found the original recipe a tad bland, so each time I make it, I add just a bit of one spice. Sometimes nutmeg, sometimes cardamom. I tried a bit of almond extract, but found it too forward.
Donna Fioravanti
Bought a house with a pluot tree this year. Made this torte for picky eaters and can’t believe how much they love it. Asked me to bake more. Added almond extract.
Susan
Have made this, over the years, with many different stone fruits. All prepared the same, sliced about 1/2" and placed in a fan design. Always beautiful and delish! My favorite is with fresh apricots.
parmelee
My father clipped this recipe and sent it to me years ago. At that time I had a blank book where I pasted saved recipes. Every autumn I open the book to this recipe and smile at the truncated scrawl of my father’s signature, “Love, Dad”. As to the recipe I add a teaspoon of almond extract and eliminate cinnamon. I would love to figure out a way to make it with almond flour. Any ideas?
Sue
Sounds good but….I think the recent blueberry spoon cake by Claire De Boer, is sooooo good, we have made it three times since it was published a few weeks ago. May be a tie?
Gerry g
Good with any stone fruits, blueberries, apples or pears. I marinate the fruit for a bit in lemon juice and sugar, then arrange the fruit slices atop the batter and drizzle any leftover liquid over the fruit. I add a crumb topping (flour, butter, walnuts, cinnamon chopped together in a food processor). Bake as instructed. To fancy it up, a sprinkle of confectioners sugar on top just before serving. My grandkids and everyone else loves, loves, loves!
AF
Another fantastic topping is Granny Smith apples quartered and very thinly sliced (skin on or off) laid in a spiral with a pint or more of fresh or frozen Blueberries dumped on top of the apple and a lot of cinnamon . My mother has been making this since the 1960s at least and I, too, for decades. I always asked for the recipe. So simple and so reliable. Serve with whipped cream!
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