Plum Torte

My mother was raised in a German household with a grandmother who was a wonderful cook and hostess. She prepared all the traditional dishes and one of my mom's favorites, and mine as well, was her prune kuchen.  I have several recipes for it, one with a streusel topping and one with a custard poured over the prunes before baking, but, as much as I like them, the recipe I use most often is for this simple cake with its lovely old-fashioned flavor and speed and ease of preparation. Another family favorite was stewed prunes poured over homemade noodles and sprinkled liberally with buttered, toasted breadcrumbs.  We loved it!

This recipe was published  in one form or another in the New York Times every year between 1983 and 1995, when the then editor of the food section told readers it was the last year it would be published, and if they lost it, it was too bad.  She suggested they cut it out, laminate it, and put it on the refrigerator door. 

Plum Torte...From The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook, by Marian Burros and Lois Levine

1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

pinch salt

24 halves pitted Italian prunes or purple plums

1 teaspoon or more cinnamon, to taste

Arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven.  Preheat to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and the 3/4 cup sugar.  Add flour, baking powder, eggs and salt and beat to mix well.  Spoon the batter into an ungreased 9 or 10 inch springform pan.  Cover the top with plums, skin side down.  Mix the cinnamon with the remaining 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  Refrigerate or freeze as desired. This cake freezes very well and I'm going to stash at least half a dozen in my freezer while prunes are in season.  

To serve: Let the torte return to room temperature and reheat at 300 degrees until warm.  Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Plum season is NOW, and its very short, so if you can find Italian prunes I hope you will try this recipe.  I bought some plums at the market last Saturday that were the size of large lemons so 6 was all I needed for this torte.  The large halves formed craters in the cake, which were delicious, and small prunes disappear altogether into the batter. It's nothing special to look at, but the flavor and texture are wonderful.

Here's a little prune-vs-plum trivia if you are interested.   The University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens defines prunes as a group of plums characterized by an oblong shape and very high sugar content. They are usually referred to as European plums to distinguish them from Japanese and hybrid plums which are usually rounder in shape with watery flesh.

Other sources say that prunes are just dried plums.  Plums are clingstone, prunes are freestone.

There are at least 125 prune varieties and most, except Italian prunes, are grown for drying.

Another source states that all prunes are plums, but not all plums are prunes.  There are many varieties of plums, and dried plums are what we know as prunes. Plums that are particularly well suited for this are called by the more precise name of prune plums. (What?)

Who ever thought that a little old prune could be so controversial and confusing. And tasty.