Easy plum cake

I am so plum happy I found this simple, easy yet really delicious plum cake (torte) recipe. I promise that this is going to be my one and only plum pun in this post even though I am so tempted! 🙂

My family’s plum tree has been producing plums like crazy. And the fruits are very sweet as well. During one of my Sunday visits, I went home with a basket of beautiful, luscious plums (and tomatoes). I had to do something with these plums. I really would have hated for them to end up in the compost bin.

I found a recipe that is surely a winner. It has been adapted from NY Times Recipe. It is called Original Plum Torte by NYT. Whether you call this torte or cake, this time-tested recipe since 1983 is much-loved, according to what I read. I can understand why! I only baked this recipe once but it was perfect as it is. I made few modifications of my own which I listed below in “My Notes.”

I expected this cake or torte to be — well — torte-like which is on the dense side. However, my cake turned out to be a perfect combination of light and dense (not as light as a birthday cake or dense as a torte). This is the reason why I choose to call it “Plum Cake” (instead of the original NYT title “Plum Torte).

And lastly, Mr Sweetie liked it very much while I loved it that I could not stop eating, and my co-worker who got a big slice said the same thing. She said that she kept on going back to the fridge to take a bite until she gave up and ate the whole thing!

• ¾ to 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup all purpose flour, sift then measure
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
•  Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 10-12 pitted purple plums, (20-24 halves)
• Sugar and cinnamon, for topping
• Powdered sugar for topping (optional)

instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 8, 9 or 10 inch round cake or springform pan.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in bowl then set aside.
4. In another bowl, cream the sugar and butter.
5. Add the flour/baking powder/salt mix and 2 eggs to the creamed sugar and butter.
6. Beat well.
7. Spoon the batter into a greased pan. Place the plum halves skin side up on the batter. Push a little into the batter but not thoroughly.
8. Sprinkle lightly with sugar then cinnamon.
9. Bake about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
10. Remove from oven.
11. When cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).
12. Also best served with whipped cream or a scoop (or two!) of vanilla ice cream.
13. Great even the next day and the next — right out of the fridge!

MY NOTES

• The plums that I used were pretty sweet yet still were a little tangy as how plums should be. I am glad that I did not add lemon juice as it would have made the cake more tangy.
• I also used vegan butter. Vegan-aversed Mr Sweetie did not even suspect that I did not use dairy butter. (If he asks, I will tell him the truth. In this case, what he does not know is good for him and his health! LOL!)
• I only used 3/4 cup sugar which was perfect because I did not want the cake to be very sweet.
• I only baked my cake for 50 minutes. I took it out of the oven when it was turning nicely brown and toothpick that was inserted came out clean.
• NYT requires subscription in order to view its recipes. However, it found that it allows you to view it for a minute before it asks you to subscribe and hides the recipe. (I do not have a subscription.)
• This is a super easy cake to bake. I will try this recipe with different fruits in the future!

Did you make this Easy Plum Cake? Please let me know by leaving a comment Below.