Seasoned to Taste: Plum Torte

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Editor’s note: This is a reprint on request of a September 2006 column.

“To every thing there is a season,” the ancient wisdom goes, and in my happy family, this is birthday season. While everybody else is whooping it up for the first football game, first day of school, State Fair, Labor Day, our clan is celebrating three birthdays in four days. Now that some of us are getting on (and the youngest turns 21 this year), the birthday hoopla is a little less labor intensive. But still, there’s a whole lot of bakin’ going on.

Part of what makes this brood happy is that birthday season for some of us coincides with prune plum season for all of us. And while some folks might think the appearance of Italian prune plums on the produce shelf a strange cause for elation, those would be the folks who’ve never eaten plum torte.

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This seasonal delight becomes an option mid-August through early September, but then the plums are gone. So now is the time to snatch up the beautiful fruits with the dark skin that might be most aptly described as “the color blurple.” And bake them into a simple and simply wonderful dessert that not only can celebrate this season but, if you put some tortes in the freezer, can bring golden end-of-summer sunshine to the bleak February grayness to come.

The New York Times food writer Marian Burros has become an honorary member of our family for publishing this recipe, the origins of which are not certain. She was given the straightforward instructions as a young bride, and four decades later still bakes and freezes plum tortes when the fruit once again appears. And bless her, she spread the recipe far and wide so folks like us could make it our own.

A springform pan is the only vaguely unusual feature of this easy-to make dessert. And for those of us with sad can’t-get-the-cake-out histories, a pan that springs open magically to release a vision of golden, cinnamony lusciousness makes this recipe just that much better. If you’re intending to freeze the torte, line the springform with aluminum foil; when the cake is baked it can be removed, foil and all, from the pan. No cleanup, and if you’re baking multiples for your freezer like some of us, the pan is immediately ready to go back into the oven.

Note that this is a “torte,” not a “tart.” “Torte,” the Oxford Companion to Food tells us, is a German word for cake, as opposed to “tart,” which denotes a pastry base filled with sweet or savory toppings. So think cake, not pie. And the good news is, torte is easier to make than tart.

This dense, fruity, rich dessert belies its simple and speedy preparation, another asset in this season when activities gear up and make cooking time tight. This recipe is a classic, one you’ll want to clip and keep and bake for years to come. Birthday season or not, we’ve fed it to dozens of people of all ages, shapes and palates in our household, always to rave reviews. Even people who say they don’t like plums like plum torte.

So don’t delay; bake one today! You and yours will understand why we’re plum crazy for plum torte!

Plum Torte

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter (original recipe specifies unsalted, but either will do)

1 cup unbleached flour, sifted (all-purpose will do, too)

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt (eliminate if using regular butter)

2 eggs

24 halves of pitted purple plums

Topping:  sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the flour, baking powder, salt (if using)and eggs and beat well. Spoon the batter into a 9-inch springform pan. 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 (usually about 1 wedge of lemon, edge cut lengthwise). Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, depending on how much you like cinnamon. (We like 1½ teaspoons.) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and serve plain or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (or frozen yogurt). To serve frozen tortes, defrost and reheat briefly at 300 degrees. Yields 8-12 servings, depending on how you slice it.

Source: Marian Burros, “De Gustibus”

Lynne Ireland lives to eat and welcomes comments and questions from others who do (or don’t). Contact her at savor@journalstar.com