NYT Plum Torte (Plum Cake)

Ripe summer plums are delicious on their own. But juicy plums baked into an easy plum cake tastes even better. Here’s the famous, original New York Times plum torte recipe (plum cake) from Marian Burros, adapted by a professional pastry chef for clarity and best results.

The Original NYT Plum Torte Recipe: Meet the Best Plum Cake Recipe of All Time

One of the most popular recipes ever in the New York Times’s collection is the Marian Burros original plum torte recipe in the New York Times. First published in September 1983, and then every subsequent September thereafter, the annual appearance of the NY Times‘s plum torte recipe speaks to both its timelessness, and its success. When stone fruit season (peaches, apricots, plums, you know the drill) rolls around in late summer, this is the cake to bake. It’s easy prep time, simple ingredients, and simple method makes this a top summer dessert.

This is Marian Burros’s original NYT plum torte recipe, but I have added a bit of clarification and directions to fill out the original. This guarantees that your plum cake is the best result it can be.

Why This Recipe Works

You will love this plum torte recipe. It’s the perfect summer-to-fall transition cake, and is delicious both for dessert and breakfast or brunch. The original recipe is charming, but a bit vague, with varied sugar quantities, three options for cake pan sizes, and a plum quantity (“24 halves”) that may not make sense at first glance. This recipe, thanks to my best professional pastry chef bona fides, fixes and clarifies all of that.

• It’s truly easy. A lot of recipes say “easy,” but this really is quick and simple to make, even for beginner bakers. You just mix the batter, nestle in the fruit, and bake.
• The flavor and texture is perfect. As the vanilla cake bakes, the fruit softens and bakes into the batter, turning jammy and even more flavorful. Every slice gets a good balance of cake and sweet-tart plum.
• This version fixes what the Times recipe left vague. I clarify the cake pan size and sugar and plum quantities so you get the best result.
• It’s adaptable. Readers have been swapping in other stone fruit and berries for years. More on that below.

This plum torte is about as foolproof as baking gets: you use one bowl, a few standard baking ingredients, ripe plums, and then bake. I’ve kept Burros’s method close to as-is. What I have clarified, however, are three things that trip people up most.

Her recipe calls for “an 8, 9, or 10-inch pan,” “3/4 to 1 cup sugar,” and “12 plums,” without ever saying which pan actually works best or what kind of plum to use. Below, I’ll give you the best answer on all of this–it depends on the result you want, and the type of plums used.

Ingredients for The NYT Plum Torte (Cake) Recipe

The ingredients are unchanged from the NY Times Marian Burros original, except I give an exact sugar quantity and add vanilla extract, which rounds out the sweetness of the cake batter. You can easily mix it by hand in a large bowl with a whisk and spatula, but I prefer a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

You will need the following ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces; 1 stick; 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Pitted purple plums, ripe and juicy
• Sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, for topping

Substitutions and Additions

Readers have been adapting this batter for years, with good results. Other stone fruit or berries work well in place of plums: pitted peaches, nectarines, apricots, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries are all good choices. Do not use strawberries; they have a high water content and release too much moisture, which will turn the cake soggy.

You can also substitute almond extract (a great flavor combo with plums) or up to 25 percent of the flour quantity for almond flour for a denser, nuttier texture and flavor.

Want another great vanilla cake folded with ripe, seasonal fruit? My Peach Pound Cake is a a longtime favorite, and this moist Blackberry Coffee Cake, adapted from famed baker Maida Heatter, is the best.

How to Make This Plum Torte Recipe: Step by Step

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch cake pan (I prefer 8-inch) and line the bottom with parchment.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
3. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt just until combined. Don’t overmix.
4. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth it out. Arrange the plum halves skin side up, crowding them in. Dust with sugar and cinnamon.
5. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the plums are bubbling.
6. Cool until warm before releasing the cake onto a wire cooling rack. Serve at room temperature, plain or with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Adapting The Original New York Times Plum Cake Recipe for Clarification and Best Results

The New York Times’s plum cake recipe works so well for several reasons. First, the flavor is absolutely delicious. A simple vanilla cake batter bakes around juicy, sweet plums, which bake into sweet, red-purple goodness.

Second, the recipe is flexible. The Times’s version is written as “3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar,” and allows bakers to use an eight-, nine- or 10-inch cake pan.

While flexible, I do think that this kind of permissiveness can also be confusing and a bit vague. At least it was to me: Which cake pan is best? Which are the right proportions? Will I need the same amount of plums for all the cake pans? What about the baking time? My adapted recipe clarifies some common recipe questions into a clear, more precise recipe.

What Type of Plums to Use for the Plum Torte? How Many?

The plum cake recipe from the NY Times calls for 24 halves of purple, pitted plums — in other words, 12 plums. The type of plum is unspecified, but the author means small Italian plums. This is the only way 12 plums, halved, will possibly fit in the cake pan.

If you cannot find Italian plums, you will use about 5 or 6 standard plums. Make sure the plums are ripe for the most flavor.

What Size Cake Pan Is Best?

In my professional opinion, I recommend using an 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan, and not a 10-inch cake pan. I have made the cake in each. The 8-inch pan is my favorite because it gives you the most height, but a 9-inch pan is a good compromise if you also want to crowd extra plums in there. I find that a 10″ cake pan is too wide and the batter is spread too thin.

How Much Sugar to Use

The original recipe specifies 3/4 cup to 1 cup of sugar. After testing this several times, I find that 3/4 cup of sugar is plenty sweet, especially since you also top the cake with cinnamon and sugar. If, for some reason, your plums are sour or unripe, use the full 1 cup sugar.

F.A.Q.s and Expert Tips

How to Tell If Your Plums Are Ripe

A ripe plum will be soft to the touch, but not mushy. Do not use hard plums, which will be drier and tart instead of sweet.

What’s the Difference: Plum Torte vs. Plum Cake

Wondering what, exactly, is a torte? Definitions vary, but generally, a torte is a short, smallish, usually rich or fancy cake-esque dessert, generally of European origin or inspiration. Martha Stewart did a whole article on it that you can check out. A torte is a cake. But not all cakes are tortes. I know. Hang in there.

For purposes of this recipe, torte and cake can be used interchangeably. This is a smallish, single-layer cake (torte) made from combining a buttery cake batter and fresh seasonal plums. Note that a torte is not a tart. A tart is a dish baked in a pastry shell.

Call it torte, call it cake. Either way, call it one of the most essential and delicious summer dessert recipes you will make all year.

Can I Make This Ahead, or Freeze It?

The cake, like all cakes, is actually best made a day ahead; the flavor actually deepens slightly as it sits.

To freeze, wrap the cooled, unsliced cake tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and freeze for up to 2 to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, uncovered to prevent sogginess, before serving.

How Long Will This Cake Keep?

Keep covered, at room temperature, for up to 2 days. I do not recommend refrigerating cake, because it will stale.

How to Serve Your Plum Torte

Serve this plum torte at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream if you’d like. That said, you can never go wrong with a simple sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Why you should trust this recipe: I trained as a pastry chef at the C.I.A. and worked in professional NYC bakeries before becoming a food writer and recipe developer. I’ve made this cake multiple times with both standard and Italian plums, and in different cake pan sizes, so you can trust that this recipe works. Learn more about my background.

Did you like this easy plum cake recipe? You’ll also like:

• Jewish Apple Cake
• Pink Peach Cobbler
• Peach Pound Cake