This is the plum torte I made yesterday. It is nothing like the original recipe.
My friend, Camilla, sent me a recipe for Plum Cake. Since Camilla is a wonderful cook, I always pay attention when she sends me something. I made the cake and it was wonderful – just like the plum tortes found in German bakeries. I'd never used plums in baking before and I was hooked. My family loved it. We had plum cake as long as plums were in season that summer.
Another year rolled around, the plums were beautiful, and I made another plum cake. It was nothing like the original. It was tall and fluffy and the plums sank down into the batter. I called Camilla and she said, "But that's how it is supposed to be." Rats! We didn't want tall and fluffy; we wanted dense and crusty. We yearned for the old plum cake.
My left brain began exploring how this could be happening. What had changed? It was an aha! moment. I had purchased new baking powder and I might have used different flour. What to do? I had to make that cake thinner and more dense somehow.
I set out to recreate the plum cake we knew and loved and, in the process, created a brand new recipe. To heck with calling it Plum Cake. It's my recipe now and I call it Plum Torte. Try it. You'll think you've been to a German bakery. You, too, Camilla.
PLUM TORTE
1 cup un-sifted bread flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar + 3 tbsp. sugar for topping
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 or 5 ripe plums, cut into ½ inch thick slices
Preheat oven to 350. Grease & flour a 9-inch springform pan. Mix dry ingredients. Beat butter and ¾ cup sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs & vanilla. Stir in flour mixture (with a spoon). Spread batter in pan. Starting at edge, arrange plums in circular fashion. Top with 3 tbsp. sugar. Bake 50-55 minutes or until done. Let cool 10 minutes. Remove sides of pan. Serve with whipped cream (or not).
