French Prune Plums |
Verne picking plums |
Otti's Plum Cake in progress ("little soldiers" standing at attention) |
The idea of making four of her
Prune Cakes and using up all the plums we’d picked was appealing. But before
starting I decided to see what other ideas were available in my cookbooks as
well as online. I Googled “German prune plum cake” and got an amazing number of
results. The most interesting recipe was included in an article published in
the New York Times. The recipe was called the Original Plum Torte or Marian
Burros’ Plum Torte and is considered “the most famous recipe ever to grace the
pages of the New York Times.” It’s a simple recipe that goes together quickly.
The only change I made was the quantity of fruit. Afterall, my mission was to
use up the majority of the 20 pounds so I increased the number of plums from 12
to 32 (whole plums, 64 halves). Even with that change I was able to place them
flat and side by side on the batter. No “little soldiers” for me. About a dozen
cakes later I’d used up the majority of the plums. Each cake was cut into four
pieces, wrapped and frozen to later be reheated and served at breakfast or in
the evening as a dessert. Did I mention we absolutely love this plum cake? It’s
not overly sweet, reheats beautifully, and will be enjoyed through this next
year each time reminding us of a warm fall day picking prune plums in Otti’s
orchard.
Marion Burros’ Plum Torte (I prefer to call it, Otti’s Plum
Cake)
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
¾ cup sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, at room
temperature
2 large eggs
32 French prune plums, pitted and
halved lengthwise
2 teaspoon of sugar and ½ teaspoon
cinnamon, mixed, for sprinkling on top last 5 minutes of baking
1. Heat
the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a
small bowl and set aside.
2. In
the bowl of a standing mixer or handheld beaters, cream the sugar and butter
until very light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
3. Add
the dry ingredients and the eggs all at once, and beat until combined, scraping
down the bowl once or twice.
4. Spread
the batter into an 8 or 9-inch spring form pan or 9” square pan. Arrange the
plum halves, skin side down, on top of the batter in concentric circles or side
by side (8 halves across and 8 halves down).
5. Sprinkle
the batter and fruit lightly with the sugar-cinnamon mixture last 5 minutes of
baking.
6. Bake
the torte (cake) for 40 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the
middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in its pan on a rack for 10
minutes, and then release the spring and let it finish cooling just on the
base. If baked in a square pan, let cool for about 20 minutes and then remove.
Once it’s cool, serve, or you can double-wrap the torte (cake) in foil, put in
a sealed plastic bag, and freeze for up to one year. Note: to serve after it
has been frozen, defrost completely and then reheat for 5 to 10 minutes in a
300-degree oven.
I have seen very similar recipes to
this that use blueberries in place of the plums. Great idea for those of us who
pick blueberries in May or June and then freeze them to enjoy throughout the
year.
Verne picking blueberries June 2019 |
Joyce picking blueberries June 2019 |
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