(by Laura Zinn Fromm)
I was feeling somewhat glum about the end of summer, and did what I often do when I’m out of sorts—looked for something new to cook. Hoping to use up the five ancient peaches, two worn-out plums, and some wrinkled cherries in the fridge, I started skimming The New York Times cooking website, and found Marian Burros’s 1983 recipe for plum torte.
Marian Burros looms large in my childhood. My mother was a passionate cook and Times reader who loved her recipes. In my mother’s kitchen, I learned to peel garlic by pressing down on the skin with a cleaver, work a double boiler, and preserve recipes by sliding them into a plastic cover and organizing them in a three-ring binder. I went to Wellesley College, where Burros graduated in 1954, and closely followed her career as I became a writer too.
Mom runs a public relations firm. She really is a combination of Nancy Reagan and Nancy Pelosi. Gives advice freely. Ballsy and beautiful. She once invited The New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne to come cook in her house with a kitchen designer whose work she was trying to promote; he accepted, and wrote about it.
My mother’s kitchen in Short Hills, New Jersey, was a happy place, unlike the rest of the house. My parents fought at the dining room table. Although they eventually divorced, they both dated other people while still living together. Neither of them was particularly good at following rules (my mother dated married men; my father often drove on the wrong side of the road). But in the kitchen, where my mother reigned, rules and recipes were followed. Flour was measured and sifted, egg whites were separated from yolks, pans were buttered, cakes were cooled, turkeys were carved, scallops were sautéed, potatoes were baked, salmon was broiled. My father was cranky and volatile when hungry (and often when not). My mother worked to placate him with delicious food. In her kitchen, I learned how to multitask, people-please, and stay calm.
Over the years, my mother has gifted me her pie plates, saucepans, canvas pastry bags, and more of her kitchen battery. It was her old springform pan that I pulled out when I decided to bake the plum tart. (Typical notes from the online Times community read: Dear god, this is good.) Mom’s advice had always been: Follow the recipe, but make adjustments as needed. So I added the peaches and cherries demanding to be used up, and made it gluten-free. I almost always consult Mom when I cook or bake something new, so I texted her to see if she recalled making the torte. (“I think I remember it,” she responded. “Really good.”)
My father is long gone now; my mother, 80-something and still working full-time, doesn’t cook much except when her grandsons visit. I don’t cook with the same energy and enthusiasm I did as when my kids were young and it was fun to show them how to melt chocolate over a double boiler and separate whites from yolks for my mother’s chocolate mousse. But lessons from Mom still resound in my head and heart: Make something yummy, and you’ll feel pretty good. Share it with people you love, and you’ll feel even better.
The plum tart was perfection, offering a warm slice of solace on a gray day. I cut myself a slice, told my husband it was ready, and texted photos of it to everyone I knew, Mom first.
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Laura Zinn Fromm is an author and editor whose work has been in many publications including The New York Times, Huffington Post, and Bloomberg Businessweek. She is the author of Sweet Survival: Tales of Cooking & Coping. She lives in New York City and can be found at www.LauraZinnFromm.com, www.SweetLabWritingWorkshops.com, and on Substack.
Plum Torte
(adapted from The New York Times)
3/4 - 1 c. sugar (I used 2/3 c. white sugar, 1/3 c. brown)
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. unbleached flour, sifted (I used 1/3 c. cornmeal and 2/3 c. gluten-free flour, sifting them separately, then together)
1 t. baking powder
pinch of salt (optional)
2 eggs
24 halves pitted purple plums (I used 5 peaches, 2 plums, and a handful of cherries)
sugar
lemon juice
1/2 - 1 t. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream sugar and butter in a bowl.
Add flour, baking powder, salt, and eggs, beating well.
Spoon batter into a springform pan of 8, 9, or 10 inches.
Place 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 cinnamon.
Bake until toothpick comes out clean, approximately 1 hour.
Can be served at room temperature, or refrigerate or freeze.
If freezing, defrost and reheat briefly at 300 F.
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