Purple Plum Torte From Marian Burros

I've made this several times now. It's one of those recipes that is so little fuss, ingredients and work that it surprises how perfect and delicious the result turns out to be. I use a 9” regular cake pan with parchment on the bottom. It comes out of the pan perfectly and is pretty to look at on the platter. The plums become jammy and delicious.

This is such a forgiving recipe that I’ve made dozens of times with all kinds of fruit. It’s always delicious. Today I’ll try figs and blueberries, just because.

Have made this many times and it’s always a hit. Yesterday I used 1/3 cup each white, whole wheat and almond flours. The almond flour lends to a beautifully golden finish and shorter baking time. The plums sank and made for a secret delight to unsuspecting diners. All good. Delicious. Now I am thinking a little cornmeal might add a crunchy bit of texture.

Made with peaches today and some more spices to the cake batter (cardamom, cinnamon, ginger) and the whole entire thing was eaten within hours by my family of four-two of whom are only five and dont often even like fruit cake too much. Only change Id make is peeling the peaches the skin is a bit annoying as I sliced them. Gorgeous.

Wow, I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this delicious recipe. It was perfection! I've made it several more times with equally delicious results. I've used cherries, halved it, baked in a loaf pan, baked in a large muffin pan, and am looking forward to trying with some fresh Arkansas peaches. Thanks, Merrill, for passing on this lovely gem of a recipe by Marian Burros!

My kids broke the knob off my oven just as the plums were becoming ripe. Argh! So I improvised and made this in my BBQ, in a buttered cast iron skillet, and I t came out great! I added a drizzle of almond extract To the batter and sprinkled the top with crumbled almond paste. Baked at around 350 with indirect heat for about 40 minutes. It had crusty edges and soft tender insides. I may actually make it this way again even once my oven is repaired.

Used less plums and added a Bartlett pear cut in eighths. It comes together so quickly!! I erred and didn't put the flour in with the eggs, but added by hand ;-) Thank you for sharing the recipe....

Go -To recipe when I'm lucky enough to find Italian prune plums.
Used whole wheat pastry flour, plant butter and put down a layer of slivered almonds under my plums. Took almost a full hour in my 9' springform. Worth every minute.

I have made this cake dozens of times, almost never with the plums. I have made it with blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. With apricots and with peaches. I typically make it with 50% white sugar and 50% dark sugar. I typically use 40% white flour, 40% whole wheat flour and up to 20% almond meal. I've made it with the lemon zest on top and without the lemon zest on top. When I made it with plums, I did it skin side up and skin side down and it didn't matter. The batter rises, the fruit sinks and gets crushed and very jammy and none of these variations have ever failed. It is a supremely easy recipe to make. Be fearless in making your variations. There are no serious mistakes (except using strawberries-too much moisture). Enjoy every bite of it.

I'm trying to make some tasty treats for my partner who has a newly restrictive diet which has taken away a lot of the treats he's used to having. Has anyone made this gluten free? Or butter & gluten free? I've been reading about replacements, but I'm curious if anyone here has successfully done so. Thanks in advance!

Bon Appetit published a variation in their September 2018 issue and doubled the recipe, but dropped the sugar, and added an egg yolk,some lemon zest and fruit brandy. This base recipe has the ability to mutate! Love it.

Made this today exactly as written and it was good, but nothing to write home about or even make again. Super basic cake.

I just tried this recipe tonight and I am so glad that I found it! I can definitely see this one getting brought out for all kinds of occasions (and non-occasions!). I did add a couple of capfuls of vanilla extract and I didn't have any turbinado sugar, so I used regular granulated sugar which ended up baking into a delightful little crust over the top. I skimped a bit on the plums (a few of them managed to get eaten before there was time to make this recipe), next time I plan on adding a bit more fruit than it calls for, not less. I've put away a lot of fruit into the freezer this summer and I'm looking forward to trying this recipe with mangos, cherries, and peaches!

Definitely a keeper!

I had heavenly modify this recipe, as I didn't have the specified Italian prune plums that were called for so I substituted it with regular plums. I also didn't have turbinado sugar so I used regular white sugar. I did not sift my flour but I did make sure to cream my butter for a solid 7mins (5mins using my standup mixer and 2min by hand as the paddles didn't get the small amount thoroughly mixed) as this usually dictates how fluffy your cake will come out.
When it came to pouring the batter into a 9in springform, I was concerned that the batter wouldn't be enough to even cover the 9in springform so I decided to use a 9in tart pan. This appeared to be the just the right size as it's not very deep but as I started arranging the plum slices I knew it was too shallow as I could imagine the cake rising beyond the height of the tart pan. I ended up using only 4 cut up plums and that ended up covering most of the surface area of the batter (arranged these in concentric circles). As this was baked, the cake rose and went past the tart's rim but it did not spill over. The cake itself was very shallow given the amount of batter and the plums on top appear to weigh it down a bit. The ratio of plum to cake is about ~3:8 (0.40) which is perfect for me. Also the plums were pretty tart so adding the sugar on top of the batter and sliced plums helped balance the tartness and sweetness. Overall, I was pleased with the taste but surprised to see how shallow of a cake this ended up being (height was ~1in).

I made this on an 8" pan and it was great, but just barely enough batter. I want to make a bigger cake and was goig to double the batter and use a 10" inch pan. Any thoughts on how I should adjust the baking temp or time?

I love this torte - it's not too sweet, it's moist, and quick to make. I blended the eggs in with the butter and sugar before adding the dry ingredients. I think it makes it easier to mix; just my preference. Delicious.

I love this cake - it's really forgiving. I've made it at the beach with a fork and peaches, blueberries, raspberries (about 1 1/4 cups or so berries or chopped fruit). I butter the springform pan, then coat in cinnamon sugar, bottom and sides. I've never had a sticking problem. I've used plums, peaches, blueberries, etc. All delicious.

Geeze, people! If you prefer the original recipe or a different adaptation, then use that one. This is the version that Merrill took the time to post. Either use it or not, but all this kvetching is nuts.

This IS a tasty recipe but I found the batter so strange, I almost abandoned making it. For anyone worried their batter is too thick, or there is not enough batter, have no fear, it will puff up and spread in the oven. Although my smaller eight inch cakes were still less than two inches tall.

I also think Italian prune plums grown in Idaho must be a different breed. 10-12 of them was more than enough for two cakes. I actually used 15 plums and made three total cakes; one a double-batch in a 10 inch springform which turned out the best of the three, since it was a thicker cake. For that one, I actually chopped the plums smaller than in half, since I found them hard to cut in the tender cake. But I still placed them skin side up around the surface. I am curious if anyone has had success just mixing in chunks.

Know also that it's difficult to remove the cake from the base of the springform, so I took to loosening it with a hard plastic spatula as soon as the cake was cool enough to handle. I might try parchment rounds in the future.