Justifiably Classic Recipe: Marian Burros’ Plum Torte Recipe Reviews

We’re wild about plum desserts. The plum has enough tang to stay interesting in a sweet dessert, and it also tends to bake into a jammy, gooey texture we adore. So we just had to try this totally classic recipe from Marian Burros. The New York Times republished this recipe annually for nearly twenty years, in response to reader demand, until Burros told readers to just cut it out and laminate it inside their cupboard!

The thing is, though, we don’t see how you could forget this recipe! If you’ve made it once, you might remember all the ingredients for the second go-round; it’s that easy. It’s a very basic cake of sugar, butter, flour. A little salt. Two eggs, one teaspoon of baking powder. Spread some plum halves on top and it’s done.

It’s so simple, in fact, that in spite of its hallowed status as an all-time favorite (you hear stories of people stashing away two dozen cakes at a time in their freezer) we felt that it was going to need a little something more. We agreed with The Wednesday Chef’s advice to add something extra to perk up the batter.

So we added a teaspoon of cinnamon, a healthy helping of nutmeg, and a pinch of cardamom to the batter. We also sprinkled a bit of cinnamon over the plums.

The end result was a cake we really loved, with a light and airy base (almost light enough for breakfast!) and warm, gooey plums on top. The spices really helped as well, and we would definitely suggest adding them.

Have you ever tried this famously popular torte? We do see how easy it is; it’s a total crowd pleaser, and we might be popping a few into our own freezer this fall.

• Get the recipe: Original Plum Torte at The New York Times

Related: Dessert Recipe du Jour: Plum Crumble

(Images: Faith Durand)