PLUM TORTE TIME
The Quintessential End-of-Summer Dessert
Hi friends! It’s that time of year when the Dog Days of Summer are coming to a close, and everyone is getting jazzed for Fall. One of the hallmarks of the “end of Summer” is the appearance of late-Summer stone fruit: think all kinds of plums, apricots, peaches, and pluots. When these summer stars start making cameos at the farmers’ market, we know it’s time to make “The Plum Torte.”
The OG Plum Torte by Marian Burros was published in 1983 by the New York Times. It then ran every year thereafter until 1989. When the Times stopped publishing it annually, readers were outraged! They wrote in about how the appearance of the Plum Torte in the newspaper became synonymous with the end-of-Summer, and essentially needed it to continue to appear so they could move on with their lives. Well, luckily NYT Cooking now has its own app, so you have access to the recipe 24/7, and the Original Plum Torte is still the most popular recipe in the history of the NY Times.
The original Plum Torte recipe is fantastic and simple. Almost fool-proof! It’s a rustic cake that is essentially fruit held together by a dense crumb, so you don’t have to be a gifted baker. The stone fruit becomes perfectly tender and almost jelly-like during baking, which is just the sort of “kitchen magic“ we love.
But beloved recipes are meant to be made one’s own, and so many people have created variations on this excellent staple. In fact, check out this video from NYT Cooking where they cook the original, and two variations of the famous Plum Torte. And if you’d like to do a really deep dive, here are 5 Ways to Adapt the Famous Plum Torte recipe.
This week we’ve decided to add our own special twists to the mix! Anthony makes his more “almondy” with the addition of almond flour and extract, while Elizabeth subs cornmeal for part of the flour, and adds Cognac to “goose” her version.
THE PLUM TORTE (ANTHONY’S VERSION)
AU: So here’s how it usually goes in our house: I start buying different fruits/veggies as they pop up at the farmers markets around town. As soon as I bring home a few peaches, Josh typically (and enthusiastically) inquires “IS IT PLUM TORTE TIME YET?!?”
The man loves this dessert. It’s probably one of his top 5 favorites.
EK: Now that I have made it, I know why he is asking!
AU: I love it because it’s so easy to put together… perfect for a last-minute dessert, or something to serve to overnight guests in the morning with their coffee/tea. It’s endlessly adaptable (as you can see above), and it’s almost completely—pardon my French—unfuckupable!
Much like Taylor Swift’s seminal album, RED, the original doesn’t need any changes… but like, don’t we love RED (Taylor’s Version) so much?? You can put this cake together in the time it takes to listen to the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”
So here are the little tweaks I make to the OG Plum Torte:
Sugar - The original calls for 1 cup of sugar (the NYT has since updated to only call for 3/4 cup). I split that smaller amount into 1/2 cup of white sugar, and 1/4 cup of light brown sugar.
Flour - Instead of just using all-purpose flour, I swapped some of it for Almond Flour (like this one from Bob’s Red Mill).
Cinnamon - The original recipe calls for a sprinkling of cinnamon on top of the cake, before you put it in the oven to bake. I think that’s bonkers, because why wouldn’t you want that cinnamon evenly distributed throughout the cake?! I combine it with the dry ingredients.
Extracts - I add both vanilla (because who doesn’t love vanilla?) and a touch of almond extract to add some oomph to the almond flavor of the cake. Be very cautious with almond extract, as adding too much will make your cake taste like potpourri.
Sliced Almonds & Sugar - Before popping your assembled torte into the oven, give it a final sprinkle with lemon juice (the “glue”), sliced almonds for some texture, and more sugar. The lemon juice and sugar combine during baking to create a crispy little delightful crust.
EK’s PLUM TORTE
EK: I came home from my fabulous trip to Slovenia and immediately went to my Farmer’s market. I was craving tomatoes and zucchini and after 10 days of eating out, I was ready to cook. I made Stanley Tucci’s zucchini pasta and ate a BLT as fast as I could fry up the bacon!
And, then I spoke with Anthony and he told me how his Cashew “Queso” had already become a favorite, and what he was making with his Farmer’s Market haul of plums…
Well, I had a big ol’ case of FOMO! So I went to the store and shopped for cashews and nutritional yeast (for the dip), and most importantly, plums.
EK: Anthony has been making The Plum Torte (and Josh has been eating) the late-summer ritual for years. How did I not know about this recipe?!? I am probably the only person in the country who hadn’t made it until now.
AU: I was shocked you hadn’t made it 18 different ways, to be honest! It’s such a stone-cold classic.
EK: Well, that’s no longer the case, because I made it twice in less than a week!
In South Carolina, there aren’t any of the Italian plums that the original recipe calls for, but there were beautiful ripe apriums—part apricot, part plum. I bought those and they were perfectly ripe, but still firm enough to bake. Rosy pink on the skin and yellow inside, they were too large to cut all of them in half, so I cut them into halves, quarters, and strips to fit in the pan.
Anthony had mentioned that he had tinkered with the recipe a little and when I read reviews of the recipe, many people had added their personal touch to it. For some reason, it seemed like this cake was begging for a little cornmeal, so I subbed ¼ of the flour for cornmeal and added a healthy glug of Cognac in case it needed a little more liquid because of the cornmeal. I could have added rum or bourbon, but I love Cognac with stone fruit.
I baked the one layer cake, a.k.a. torte and let it cool. I had read that it was better the next day but I had to try it fresh from the oven. It was one of the best vanilla cakes that I have ever eaten and had a soft and delicate crumb and a strong vanilla flavor even without vanilla extract. The 2 tablespoons of Cognac that I added might have contributed to that flavor.
I tasted the cake, and understood why so many people loved it. It was simple and delicious and the fruit cooked down until it was soft and left a juicy pocket just underneath that was absorbed by the crumb of the cake.
The next day, I had a piece in the morning with my coffee and it was a little denser, but delish just the same. If you google the torte, you will see that some people prefer it after it sits overnight. I liked it both ways, but think the soft fresh crumb is my favorite by just a wee bit!
Because I bake a lot, I looked at the list of ingredients and used my own technique of creaming the butter and sugar, adding the eggs one by one, whisking the dry ingredients together and adding it after all the liquid was thoroughly mixed in. Because I didn’t make the recipe in the dump fashion, my crumb was lighter and more delicate than the finished torte on the video from the NYT. If you prefer a light cake, make it like a cake, otherwise dump everything in at once.
AU: That’s what I think the magic of this recipe is… it’s truly a Cake Chameleon! It can be whatever you want it to be, and is the MOST forgiving recipe. If you’ve never baked any sort of dessert before, I highly recommend this be your entry point. You will be so proud of yourself, I promise!!
A FOOD FOOTNOTE…
EK: Before we close, can I just say that we need to flag Anthony’s Spicy Cashew Queso from our last newsletter! I made it and refrigerated it overnight to thicken and let all the flavors bloom and marry. OMG it is delicious!
I love that Anthony says, “ don’t turn up your nose at something just because it is different…” I love queso and like Anthony “Ro-Tel” [queso] was my favorite, but I have to say the flavors and the spice in this dip are ever better! Ro-Tel Queso is hot and cheesy, but this dip is spicy, deep in flavor, perfectly balanced, and just plain yummy. It’s my new go-to as well! I love it with both tortilla chips and Frito Scoops!
AU: Awwww, thanks EK! I really love it, and I’m so happy you do, too!
That’s it for this week! As always, if you make our recipes, tag us on the ‘gram (@kitchensitch & @elizabethkarmel), and use the hashtag #whats4dinner. Happy cooking!!
I haven't tried this version of plum cake/torte, but will try it before the season's over. Which version? Maybe with a little bit of the almond flour.
Thanks for linking to that New Yorker article on Stanley Tucci's zucchini dish. I saw that episode of "Searching for Italy" and now I can investigate why he was so excited about how it tastes.