Plum Torte

It's not too late this fall to pick up a basket of purple plums from your favorite market. If you don't find the dark purple, or as my family calls them, Italian Plums, you may use any other kind. This cake is moist and dense, not overly-sweet, and bakes up quickly.

This is adapted from the New York Times, the article describing this as their most requested recipe! Smitten Kitchen has a similar recipe (also adapted from the times?). I used plums of various ripeness, from overly ripe to not quite ripe, and it's accepting of both.

It is delicious as soon as cooled but the flavor deepens if you can leave it alone, covered overnight. The flavor and juices from the plums will be absorbed by the cake. It's perfect for breakfast, too.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle. Grease a 9 inch springform pan, flour it and set aside.



Sift together and set aside:
1 cup Gluten-free flour or your favorite blend.*
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp psyllium seed husk powder or 1/2 tsp guar or xanthan gum

Sifting the ingredients

1/4 tsp salt

Cream together with a mixer:
1/2 cup (8TB) butter, softened but not melted
3/4 cup sugar. If your plums are not quite ripe enough, increase sugar to 1 cup

Beat in, one at a time
2 large eggs
Scrape down sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula and then
Mix in the flour in two batches making sure it's thoroughly incorporated. (You may use your mixer for this step.)

You'll need
12 plums
Juice of half a lemon
Cinnamon sugar

Creaming butter and sugar.

While the batter rests:
Split and pit approximately 12 plums and set aside.

Sprinkling with cinnamon sugar mixture

Ready for a fork

Push your batter into the prepared pan with a silicone spatula and smooth out the top.
Place the plums cut side down on the batter.
Squeeze or sprinkle the juice of half a lemon over batter and plums, then give the top a generous dusting of cinnamon sugar.

Bake in your 350 degree oven for approximately one hour, checking at around 50 minutes.

Cool for ten minutes, loosen sides of cake from pan by running a sharp knife around it, then release from the spring form. When the cake is cool, slide it on to a plate.

Finished cake, cooling

This is my favorite, all-purpose baking mix.

*ATK flour blend:

24 ounces (4 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup white rice flour

7 1/2 ounces (1 2/3 cups) brown rice flour

7 ounces (3/4 cup) potato starch

3/4 ounce (3 TB) nonfat milk powder

If you want to understand the science behind why this works, please buy the ATK cookbook. Having said that, I use only Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice Flour for both types of rice flour in this formula. This is a wonderful company and deserves supporting and this flour makes the absolutely best baked goods.