Plum Crazy
A fruit obsessive turns her passion into dessert
There’s a certain plum that sometimes turns up at the market at this time of year—if you’re lucky. It’s the Italian prune plum, also called the Empress plum. I have always associated this egg-shaped red-purple fruit with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year that in 2021 begins at sundown on Sept. 6, ushering in the year 5782 on the Jewish calendar. It’s a time of prayer and introspection that culminates in a fast 10 days later on Yom Kippur. But, as with all Jewish holidays, food is central. For me, those hard-to-find plums—and the desserts you can make with them—are key.
If the plums are available at all in Southern California where I live—and sometimes they aren’t—it’s for an extremely short window of time, maybe two or three weeks, and perhaps only in one or two groceries or farmers markets.
When I discovered them recently at a Whole Foods in Redondo Beach, I immediately raced down and purchased four pounds. The next day, I went back and bought another three. As I write this, I’m realizing that the plums I didn’t turn into the plum tart in the photo above, or into an ill-fated batch of plum butter (more on that later) will soon turn to mush unless I make them into something. So I’m plotting more plum butter (hopefully with better results) or possibly some jam or another dessert—and maybe another run to the market for more fruit, assuming it’s still there!
In my immigrant German-Jewish family, some version of a plum cake or torte—which among my relatives was usually called a Zwetschgenkuchen, but in some parts of Germany is referred to as a Pflaumenkuchen—almost always turned up at the table during the High Holidays. Luisa Weiss, author of Classic German Baking: The Very Best Recipes for Traditional Favorites, from Pfeffernüsse to Streuselkuchen, says the Zwetschgen are actually a slightly drier plum than the Pflaumen, making them better for cake.
In the U.S., the small Italian prune plums or somewhat larger Empress plums are the ones to get—and they are central to this tart (or torte or kuchen—please note: I’m using these terms interchangeably, though a kuchen, meaning “cake” in German, is usually simpler than a torte, which often includes fancy layers of cream, ganache, and/or fruit, while a tart is basically a single-crust pie).
As Weiss says in her book, “Definitely don’t substitute regular round plums for prune plums … as they have less flavor and far more moisture and are not as delicious when cooked.”
Okay, there are alternates if you can’t find this elusive fruit; the dessert won’t be quite the same—these plums when cooked have a delightful blend of acid and sweetness that’s hard to duplicate—but it will be delicious. I imagine that fresh mission figs, also in season right now, would make an excellent substitute, as would apples.
Of course apples hold a special significance at Rosh Hashanah. They’re the fruit that’s traditionally served at the beginning of the meal, sliced and dipped in honey to symbolize our hope for a sweet New Year. (See my 2020 post, Apples & Honey Cake.)
In another story I wrote in 2020, Muerbeteig for Mom, you can read about two versions of the tart—plum and apple—that combine elements of old family recipes, plus others from tattered editions of The Settlement Cook Book and Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Kitchen.
Shortcrust vs. Yeast Dough
Although the family recipe I grew up with uses a shortcrust pie dough, yeast doughs are customary in Germany. The Paris-based chef and author David Lebovitz adapted an excellent recipe from Weiss, a Berlin-born American-Italian food writer, for Yeasted Plum Tart, adding some sliced almonds to the streusel topping. Again, the key ingredient is those hard-to-find plums. I was intrigued enough to attempt this version also, since I still had some of those plums and wasn’t going to let them go to waste.
I was pleased with the result, particularly the addition of the streusel topping, a simple mixture of flour, butter, sugar (both white and brown), cinnamon and almonds, but I think I prefer the shortcrust version because it’s a bit crisper and sweeter. Because of the crumbly topping and sturdy crust, I think the yeasted version might just tolerate a juicier fruit, although I could be wrong. In any case, I’ve got a lot of leftover streusel to use up, so more tortes (or tarts) may be on the way!
The New York Times Classic Plum Torte
One of the reasons I got so deeply into the weeds on this somewhat obscure plum this year is that I wanted to try a popular New York Times recipe for Plum Torte by Marian Burros that the New York Times published every September from 1983 to 1989 until the editors decided it was time to stop.
When outraged readers bombarded the paper with angry letters, the higher-ups relented and pledged “that every year, as summer gives way to fall, we will make sure that the recipe is easily available to one and all.”
The internet has obviously made that easier, and the Times has also offered helpful variations of the original recipe, including replacing the plums with other seasonal fruits, such as apricots, apples or cranberries; subbing different flours for part of the all-purpose flour the recipe calls for; and experimenting with the spices and extracts.
When I made the torte, I subbed a quarter-cup of cornmeal for some of the flour and added some vanilla extract. The torte, though somewhat yellow, had a pleasant crunch from the cornmeal.
When I forgot the eggs on another attempt at the plum torte, it came out as you see from the above photo. I had added streusel from the David Lebovitz recipe and the brown sugar and almonds melded into the crust to make a kind of caramelized plum candy/cookie bar. My neighbor and favorite taster Susie said it was the best tart I made this year! Sometimes happy accidents lead to new recipes!
Meanwhile, after spending weeks obsessed with obtaining the scarce Italian prune plums, I noticed that the New York Times recipe just calls for “pitted purple plums,” no particular type specified. Go figure.
As for my favorite tart—the one I would make again and again? Aside from the “happy accident” of the forgotten eggs, I love the recipe I wrote about last year that’s a mashup of old family and cookbook favorites. It has a butter crust and could be a base for just about any fruit, though I do love those plums! Here’s a link to that post: Muerbeteig for Mom. Play with it and make it your own. Then, please tell me about it!
Plum Butter—an experiment gone awry
To use up the surfeit of plums I’d bought out of sheer joy at finding them, I decided to make some plum prune butter—basically a puréed jam with the consistency of butter, sometimes called lekvar and used as a filling in cookies and cakes. It’s often made from dried prunes or apricots and used in a number of popular Jewish recipes. I love to put lekvar in hamantaschen and rugelach. (Please click the links to find my posts about these recipes.)
Unfortunately, I found a recipe that suggested cooking the plums, sugar and spices in an open-top cast-iron pot in the oven instead of on the stove, as I usually do when I make jam. All proceeded well, with the fruit thickening up nicely after about three hours in a moderate oven. I puréed the cooked plums with my trusty immersion blender, poured the hot mixture into sterilized jars and turned the jars upside down to help seal them, said to be a good method of adding to the longevity of jams and preserves if you don’t want to go the laborious water-bath canning route.
A few spoonfuls of plum butter were left in the pot, so I sampled the jam and mixed it into some yogurt. I thought the taste was slightly metallic, but figured it must be my imagination. But then I happened to glance at myself in the bathroom mirror; my teeth had turned a scary dark gray. Totally freaked out, I brushed my teeth hard with baking soda and they returned to their pre jam-tasting off-yellow hue.
I took another look at the pot I’d cooked the plums in and realized that some of the black surface of the pan may have flaked into the jam, gotten onto my teeth and now was probably coating my stomach. I felt just fine, but…
Long story short—I decided I’d go back to my usual way of making jam—in a stainless steel pot—and make some plum jam, not lekvar this time around. I had to purchase a few more pounds of plums for that, but the results (see above) turned out quite well.
Meanwhile, since I’m a cast-iron devotee and often cook meals in an array of frying pans made of the sturdy metal, I checked the maker’s website, Lodge Cast Iron, after failing to reach them on the phone.* The site claimed the occasional black flakes that come off Lodge pans aren’t harmful and are a result of heating the pans too rapidly and unevenly. I’m not convinced, especially because of the off-flavor of the jam. However, I’ve never tasted it in other food cooked in cast iron. But sadly, that plum jam is (ahem) toast.
*Note: Later, after I published this, I did receive an email from Chastity P., a Lodge customer care associate. Here’s what she said: “Foods that are very acidic (i.e. beans, tomatoes, citrus juices, etc.) should not be cooked in Seasoned Cast Iron until the cookware is highly seasoned. The high acidity of these foods will strip the seasoning and result in discoloration and metallic-tasting food. Wait until cast iron is better seasoned to cook these types of foods. Lodge Enameled Cast Iron is not affected by acidity and can be used with all foods.”
Do you cook in cast iron? I’d love to hear about your experiences, positive or negative. Also, if you celebrate the High Holidays, do you have a favorite recipe that always turns up at your table? Please let me know. And l’Shana Tova—I hope 5782 will be a honey of a year—and I mean that in the best sense. May good health, happiness and sweet things, culinary and otherwise, bless you and your loved ones.
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Thank you Ruth for sharing your plum tart with us after the wonderful Indian dinner. It was really special (leftovers too) and it's wonderful to read about the history of the NYT recipe. I think that Italian prune plum has a long history in a few cultures. My Italian mother enjoyed stewing the prunes and eating them as a special dessert with the "liquor" the stewing created. Interesting to learn about how it is used for Rosh Hashana. Happy New Year!
My sister's been making the NYT plum tart for years and she loves it. I made jars and jars of "freezer" plum jam when we used to have a prolific plum tree. It was the best! Your article made my mouth water.