Plum Torte Using Pluots

The most requested recipe of all times of the NY Times recipes is the recipe for this Plum Torte.  Intrigued by this, I decided to give the recipe a try.  I happened to have some pluots on hand.  I had bought this fruit that is a cross between a plum and an apricot, thus the name pluots out of curiosity and they were quite good. 

Pluots, a cross between a plum and an apricot.

Ingredients

Halved pluots.

• ¾ to 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup unbleached flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 24 halves pitted purple plums  (I used 12 halves pitted pluots.)             
• Sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, for topping

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well.
3. Spoon the batter into a springform pan of 8, 9 or 10 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon juice, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, depending on how much you like cinnamon.
4. Bake 1 hour, approximately. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and serve plain or with whipped cream. (To serve a torte that was frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.)

Adding eggs and dry ingredients to creamed sugar and butter.

Pluots placed skin side up on batter in pan.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Into the oven.

Out of the oven.

A nice afternoon snack with a cup of hot tea. 

I think I will try it with purple plums next time.