No.84 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Purple Plum Torte

Made famous by Marian Burros

Photo: Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Elegant but Easy (with Lois Levine), 1960; The New York Times, 1983 onward.

The Times printed it every September for years, and readers protested when it stopped. Its most requested recipe ever.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in The Essential New York Times Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar, plus 1 to 2 tbsp for the top
• 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 12 small Italian (prune) plums, halved and pitted (24 halves)
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 350F (175C) with a rack in the middle. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl until light. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well.
3. Spread the batter in the pan. Arrange the plum halves on top, skin side up, pressing them in lightly.
4. Sprinkle with the lemon juice, then with the cinnamon mixed with 1 to 2 tbsp sugar, depending on how tart the plums are.
5. Bake about 1 hour, until golden and a tester comes out clean from the cake part. Cool on a rack, then take off the ring.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature, plain or with whipped cream.

Chef's tips

• Italian prune plums hold their shape. Larger plums work if cut into quarters.
• It freezes well: wrap it tightly, then thaw and warm at 300F (150C).

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser: get the book, No. 29 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 83Red Lentil Soup with Lemon→ No. 85Dutch Baby (David Eyre's Pancake)