I will be completely sincere, this is not my recipe.(Shocking, I know). It was actually a cake that The Times published Marian Burros’s recipe for Plum Torte every September from 1983 until 1989, when the editors determined that enough was enough. There was some outrage amongst the readers, evidently, because it had become the go-to autumn cake for so many people over the years.
But this year, since it’s plum season, we’re bringing it back with a bit of a modern twist.
This cake is a rustic, golden plum beauty that looks like it just walked out of a charming countryside kitchen—no frills, no flashy frosting, just honest-to-goodness deliciousness. The twist I mentioned earlier however? Marzipan. Yepp, we’re marzipan lovers over here, but feel free to skip it if it’s not up your alley. There’s something perfectly imperfect about the way the plums are arranged, giving it a cozy, homemade vibe that says, “I might not be fancy, but I’m full of flavor”. And those plums? They’ve roasted to jammy perfection, their skins giving a pop of deep purple against the warm cake, like edible little jewels.
What you’ll need:
- 100 gr of room temp butter
- 100 gr of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- 130gr baking flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 100 gr of marzipan paste
- 9 plums,cut in half and pitted
- ½ of an oranges juice
- 2 tsp of brown sugar for the topping
Steps:
- Whip up the softened butter with the sugar, salt, and eggs
- Sift in the baking flour and baking powder. Stir with a spatula to combine all the ingredients, and pour the batter into a 22 cm cake form with baking paper cut to the bottom of the form
- Grate the 100 gr of marzipan evenly on top of your batter, and arrange the half-cut plums in a circular motion
- Squeeze on top the juice of half an orange, and finally sprinkle the top with some brown sugar.
- Place in an oven at 180C for 50 minutes.
I advise you to let it cool a bit but still eat it while warm.
Enjoy!
Love, V
