Original Plum Torte Recipe (2024)

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.

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.

Sifted flour means sift then measure.
Flour, sifted means measure them sift.

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 ;)

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!

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.

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.

A 9" pan gives greater height and moisture to the tart than a 10" pan.

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.

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.

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.

Springform or not, shouldn't we grease (butter) the pan?

Dear god, this is good.

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.

I bake this at least twice a month, usually with whatever fruit I have on hand or with lemon zest and a little juice. I call it my “cake stand cake”, one that’s always on the covered stand in my kitchen for anyone looking for something sweet to snack on. My only complaint is that it always sinks in the middle during that last 15 minutes of baking. Does that happen for anyone else? Any recommendations on how I can prevent this from happening?

I’ve made this several times, with lots of different fruit. For a yummy variation I add the frangipane from the NYT plum and frangipane tart recipe, and swirl it into the batter. I also add slivered almonds on the bottom with the fruit. So lovely with some vanilla ice cream and even better the next day.

Hey! Spring called and wants to come to the party! Full one cup sugar, substitute strawberries and rhubarb, add a tsp of ginger to the batter. Delish! You're welcome!

Can olive oil be substituted for the butter?

We have two Italian plum trees, so we make this often. You can also make with frozen plum halves, or you can make and freeze the torte itself. I have never met a person that didn't like it. It's dessert, it's breakfast, it's a snack!

For the love of God, can we please specify weights in grams ?? The cuppa cuppa cuppa days are over, It's time to catch up.

Less sugar is just as good. Great recipe to use up fresh Italian plums from the tree. Frozen plums work fine too.

This is a no fail cake. Everybody loves it no matter how you tweak it. Today it was subbing 1/3 of the flour with corn meal and blueberries/fresh apricots instead of plums. A little vanilla ice cream on the side doesn’t hurt either.

Yup, a winner. Delicious, easy, and so versatile as you can see by reading all the notes. One thing I’ve done successfully that I haven’t seen noted is using dried fruit. I soak dried plums (or any fruit) in liquor for several hours and use those instead of fresh. Also delicious! The best liquor I’ve used is a sweet, spiced pear cordial but many others have worked well too (e.g., rum).

Original Plum Torte is my new favorite item. I’ve made three since I saw the recipe - plums! All sorts. Sweet. But this time I made it with black figs! Yum. Lemon juice and sugar and cinnamon liberally. You can’t “pour” the batter. I’d say “spoon” but you can also add a little bit of milk. Best at room temp or cold.

Tried this for thanksgiving but was very disappointed. It didn’t rise to the cake consistency shown in the photo but stayed flat - more like a plum cookie. I tried twice! Even after brand new baking powder and following the original recipe precisely, the second version was the same (in the first attempt I tried a recommended alteration and substituted 1/4 cup cornmeal for flour). Anyway, the flavor was good but I won’t make it again - there are too many other things to try.

Plums unavailable for the time being. Think I could use frozen peaches??!

Ok to cut sugar down to 2/3 cup

would like to make this with apples and cranberries, and I’m wondering for those who have already done so, do you cook the cranberries with sugar and drain? I’m putting them in whole they would release too much liquid and be way too tart. Advice?

Don’t make this. Make this instead - https://www.sugarsalted.com/easy-plum-streusel-coffee-cake/