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candace
Something not right. In the link to the original article, Melissa refers to increasing the egg from Marion Burros' recipe, which calls for 2 eggs. Yet this recipe calls for only one egg. Typo or wrong link?
Mary Lawton
I've been making this cake since the early 80's. With two eggs and no milk, one cup of sugar, two cups of white flour. It is always so perfect that I never changed the ingredients. The key with this cake is to bake a tiny bit over so that the center is not goopy. Everything becomes slightly caramelized.
Maria
The recipe she's referring to in the article is not the Marion Burros recipe but the recipe for a rustic sour cherry cake she found and liked, whose texture she was trying to lighten a bit. She found the cake worked best with plums instead of cherries.
Ellen S
Very very similar to The Original Plum Torte (sigh) and just as delicious. The whole wheat added a nice dimension, but there was no crunch from the sugar. I found 400℉ too hot, as the cake was done in less than 25 minutes and a bit scorched at the corners. Next time: 350℉ as in The Original Plum Torte.
Deidre
9.30.18Made with 1/2c white, 1/2c wheat and 1/4 c almond flourMixture of Italian and red plumsUsed Prune liquorLet the sliced plums sit with flour, a bit of sugar and cinnamon before assembling. Ceramic rect baking dish with handles.Yum
Marj
All NYT recipes for plum cakes that I found after baking and commenting on this one instruct cooks to distribute the plum halves on the batter skin side up, which is contrary to what I resolved to do absent directions here. Does this yield a juicier dessert?
Many cooks recommend letting the cake sit, cooled and covered, for a day before serving (or refrigerating, I assume), this to let the fruit juice distribute itself throughout, which results in a tastier (if not easy to slice) dessert.
Ann
Used 3/4 cup white flour; 1/4 cup almond flour; 1/4 cup cornmeal in place of whole wheatUsed 2 eggs and enough milk to make spreadable
Marj
Plums available this month at Whole Foods in Florida were rock-hard and didn't ripen much in the course of a week. Nestle the pitted halves in the dough, skin down, but I suspect that slicing first might make it easier to cut the baked and cooled cake as the pastry tends to separate from large, heavy pieces of fruit.
A Tb. of demerara sugar is enough. Natural By Nature's lightly sweetened whipped cream on top! (Carrageenan and nitrous oxide in propellant cans are F.D.A.-approved.)
Joel
See original recipe
Barb
We didn't have cognac or brandy, so subbed southern comfort. Didn't have Demerara sugar, subbed a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. All in all, we were quite happy with it and appreciate the whole wheat flour usage. I do feel like something almond-y wants to be included --maybe almond flour or a bit of marzipan?
Curtis
Perfect!
frieda
When prune plums come into season, I have to decide if I will make my German aunt's Bavarian Zwetschgenkuchen with a yeast dough or my easy plum tarte with a pastry crust that has hazel nuts. My pastry crust recipe does not have eggs and is so simple that it usually wins.
Carol Shurman
I bought “The Elegant but easy cookbook” in the 1970s as a young mother and housewife. The book is a paperback and the pages are all yellow and brittle, but I continue to make the Torte for guest who then always request the recipe!
MD Buttrick
I didn't have much luck with this recipe. Didn't have the crunchy top and it was a bit dry. I think I'll stick with the Marion Burros version which I've mad before and really liked.
Christine
The cake came out a bit stodgy, though everyone enjoyed it with ice cream. I put the egg in before the butter, and maybe that and my daughter's vigorous stirring eliminated some air bubbles.
Amirissa
The batter was way too dry as is. I ended up adding an additional egg and increasing the milk to 3/4 cup. I wish I had used brown sugar instead of white and added some almond extract to the mix.
Sue
I regularly make the Burros plum torte which is easy and never fails to impress. So is this one but with all whole wheat flour! Easy and excellent. Thank you Melissa!
Ellen S
Very very similar to The Original Plum Torte (sigh) and just as delicious. The whole wheat added a nice dimension, but there was no crunch from the sugar. I found 400℉ too hot, as the cake was done in less than 25 minutes and a bit scorched at the corners. Next time: 350℉ as in The Original Plum Torte.
Micayla
Help! What if I don't have cognac or brandy?
Tracy S
This just didn't work for me. I used the baking time in the recipe but I think it ended up overbaked. It was a very thin and dry.
Linda
I used white whole wheat flour. At first, I didn’t think there was enough batter to fill the pan since it is a thin layer but once I added the plums and baked it off, it was perfect proportion. The crumb from theWhite whole wheat flour was moist and flavorful. It stood up to the juiciness of the plums. Maybe next time I would sprinkle a little less sugar on top.
JD
has anyone tried this with 25% of flour being rye?
Patty
This is as bad as the harshest comments. I thought, how could something get four stars and be that bad? I think it simply should not be all whole wheat flour. I might consider 1/4 whole wheat next time. It’s dry and gritty.
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