34 | 52 The Original New York Times Plum Torte

Somebody I follow on Instagram recently posted a picture mentioning (not showing!) some famous 'Plum Torte'.

I was instantly hooked. 

Having just bought plums and being really curious about the combination of 'Plum' and 'Torte' I immediately pinterested it. (Yes, I didn't google it, I pinterested it...)

All these pins of the New York Times' Original Plum Torte came up so I assumed that this must be it. The famous Plum Torte.

Now, let's get something straight here.

'Torte' in German means some kind of layer cake. 2 and more layers of some sponge cake, filled and topped with some sort of cream.

One of the most famous German Tortes is probably the 'Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte' (Black Forest Cake) which my husband is a big fan of but me not so much.

The Times' Plum Torte actually has zero to do with a Torte. At least not in the German sense.

But it's so much better than a (German) Torte.

It's quick, easy, with few ingredients, light, and just an everyday treat that everybody will love. It sure isn't fancy but so very comforting.

And that's more important anyway. Right?

 
The Original New York Times Plum Torte

From The New York Times

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

113 g (1/2 cup) butter

130 g (1 cup) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

12 purple plums, in halves and pitted

Sugar and cinnamon for topping

• Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF) degrees.
• Cream together sugar and butter. 
• Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well.
• Spoon batter into a round spring form pan of 25 cm / 10 in (or smaller, if you don't have this size). 
• Distribute plum halves on the batter, skin side up. 
• Sprinkle lightly with sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (or less, if you're not into cinnamon that much).
• Bake about one hour. Remove and cool (or serve lukewarm).

My modifications: 

None. 

The taste: 

Perfect. Comforting. Real. A true keeper. 

What's your favorite plum recipe? 

33 | 52 Nectarine Upside Down Cake

During our last trip to the grocery store, I picked up a 1 kilogram basket of nectarines.

They're so good when they're in season, all sweet and juicy, right?

At the cash register, I noticed that 2 nectarine baskets landed back in our cart.

It turned out that the hubby had the same idea as me :)

While we really like to eat the nectarines, 2 kilograms at once seemed a bit of a stack...

So what does a person who likes to bake do? 

Turn the fruit in question into something baked.

And since I have never made an Upside Down Cake before, I thought it was time.

Let's see if it was worth it!

Nectarine Upside Down Cake

From Add A Pinch

113 g (1 stick) butter, melted

100 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
5 nectarines, peeled and sliced
240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
2 eggs
200 g (1 cup) sugar
280 g (2 cups) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

• Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF).
• Pour half of the melted butter into a round springform pan. Move pan around until bottom and sides are coated with butter.
• Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the melted butter.
• Put nectarine slices on top of the brown sugar.
• In a bowl, combine buttermilk, the other half of the melted butter, eggs, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until combined. Pour evenly over the nectarines.
• Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allow to stand for about 5-10 minutes before transferring to a plate or cake stand.
• Remove the outer ring of your springform pan, then place your plate or cake stand on top of the cake, carefully flip so that the nectarine bottom is on top.

My modifications:

I made three small cakes, instead of one big one. Don't ask me why - just felt like it ;)

Also, I didn't have any buttermilk at home so I made my own (for the first time): 4 1/2 teaspoons vinegar (or lemon juice) plus 1 cup of milk. Stir together and let sit for about 10 minutes et voilà: you made your own buttermilk!

The taste:

Somewhere between okay and good. The nectarines didn't turn out very caramelized from the sugar (like it usually looks in the pictures of recipes) - maybe my pan was too non-sticky so I should have omitted the butter? And the cake part was too dense for my taste (which you can see on the right picture above). All in all, it didn't turn out very pretty, not at all special from the taste but of course still edible and not bad. I wouldn't make it again though.

Have you ever baked an upside down cake? What fruit did you use and how was it?

32 | 52 Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

I know, I know...

This name is way too long.

Maybe we should call this week's recipe LBCSB?

Or something like: The Perfect Summer Treat?

No, not very convincing...

But no matter its name - it's just pure yumminess.

It combines everything you love (or at least everything I love):

Lemon. Blueberries. Cheesecake. Streusel.

Summer. Freshness. Yum.

So give these a try. And do let me know if you come up with a good, short name.

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

From Inspired Taste

For the crust

9 graham cracker rectangles

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated

57 g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

454 g (16 oz) cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

2 tablespoons lemon zest, grated

60 ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

150 g (1 1/2 cups) fresh blueberries

For the topping

1 cup light brown sugar

100 g (3/4 cup) flour

85 g (3/4 stick) butter, cold

• Preheat oven to 160ºC (325ºF). 
• For the crust, place graham crackers, sugar, and lemon zest into your food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse again until crumbs are moistened. If you don't have a food processor, make crumbs the old-fashioned way: place crackers in a plastic bag and hit with a rolling pin (or the like) until you get crumbs. Place crumbs in a bowl together with the remaining crust ingredients and stir until crumbs are moistened. 
• Press crumb mix into your prepared square pan (23 cm / 9 in) and bake for 10 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes. 
• For the filling, mix together cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar until smooth. Pour the filling over the crust and top with blueberries. 
• For the streusel topping, combine all ingredients with your hands until you have a (more or less) crumbly dough. Crumble over the filling. 
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool 1 hour at room temperature, then at least 1 hour in the fridge before serving.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Delicious! It really combines so many good things that you can't go wrong with it. And it tastes like pure summer. Not light but still refreshing.

What's your favorite baked summer treat?

30 | 52 Mango Bars

Right now is not the time of overripe bananas.

But time of the overripe mango...

So I started browsing the mango dessert recipes on Pinterest and stumbled upon these Mango (Lemon) Bars that looked and sounded so good.

And they truly are:

Mango Bars

From Curried Cantaloupe

For the crust

113 g (1 stick) butter, melted

190 g (1 1/2 cups) flour

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the mango (lemon) curd

240 ml (1 cup) mango pulp

1 teaspoon lemon juice

200 g (1 cup) sugar

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

zest from one lemon

113 g (1 stick) butter

• Preheat oven to 17ºC (350ºF).
• Combine flour, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Pour in melted butter and combine to form a dough with a spatula. Line a 20 x 20 cm / 8 x 8 in pan with parchment paper and press the dough evenly onto the bottom of the pan. Poke with a fork several times and bake for 10 minutes.
• While the crust is in the oven, whisk together eggs, yolks, and sugar. Add mango pulp, lemon juice and zest, and stir until smooth. Cook over low heat, stir constantly just until you notice that clumps are coming up from the bottom. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
• Pour over crust and bake for 10-15 minutes until edges are set.
• Cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. 

My modifications:

I pureed one mango and got a bit over 1 cup of pulp. So I thought I would just omit most of the lemon juice and just use a bit under 1 cup of mango pulp plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. It worked really well and I didn't miss any lemon taste. (The original recipe calls for 180 ml (3/4 cup) of mango pulp and 80 ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice.)

The taste:

If you like mangos, you will like these Mango Bars (duh). Another refreshing summer dessert that is a keeper.
Next time I might add a bit more lemon juice though (like the original recipe does) because it could have used a bit more kaboom. If you know what I mean.

Have you ever baked anything with mango? What was it and how did you like it?
 

29 | 52 Gooseberry Apricot Cake

Do you like gooseberries?

I do. But only if they are small and sweet :)

Not if they are big and not very sweet and with a very thick skin.

Like the ones I bought last week...

So I thought that baking those gooseberries would make them better or at least edible.

Note to self: if gooseberries don't taste good 'raw' then they also don't taste good 'baked'.

Gooseberry Apricot Cake

Adapted from Edeka

For the yeast base

250 g (2 cups) flour

40 g (1/4 cup minus 1 tablespoon) sugar

pinch of salt

zest of 1 lemon

20 g (0.7 oz) fresh yeast (or one pack dry yeast)

125 ml (1/2 cup) milk

1 egg

For the filling

400 g (14 oz) gooseberries

500 g (18 oz) apricots

For the glaze

150 g (3/4 cup minus 1 tablespoon) butter, room temperature

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

4 eggs

50 g (1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon) flour

pinch of salt

125 g (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) heavy cream

• For the yeast base, sift flour into a bowl and make a dent in the middle. Sprinkle sugar, salt, and lemon zest onto flour rim. Dissolve the yeast in a bit of milk and pour into the flour dent. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
• Knead yeast with flour, the remaining milk, and the egg. Cover again and let rise for another 15 minutes.
• Butter a round springform pan and distribute yeast base evenly on bottom of pan. Let rise for another 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF).
• Wash and dry the gooseberries and apricots. Cut apricots in pieces.
• For the glaze, beat together butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time. Add flour, salt, and heavy cream.
• Distribute gooseberries and apricots evenly on yeast base. Pour glaze over fruit and bake for 45 minutes.
• Let cool completely before serving.

My modifications:

I used fresh apricots (the original recipe calls for canned apricots).

The taste:

I didn't like it. And I'm not sure that it was only those gooseberries that spoiled it for me.... But try for yourselves - maybe you'll like it!

Any gooseberry baking recipes we should know about?

 

28 | 52 Berry Pavlova

When my mother requested 'something with fruit and meringue' for her birthday cake, she was probably thinking more in the direction of the Redcurrant Meringue Pie I made for her birthday last year (and which was delicious).

But of course I wanted to try something new.

I've seen so many Pavlova recipes over the last couple of years but never made one.

BIG MISTAKE, as I know now.

If you like meringue (and berries, in this case) then this is for you. It's the perfect summer dessert.
And it was a big hit with my mom (and me) :)

Oh, and it looks real pretty, too.

Berry Pavlova

From Morrisons Magazine

For the meringue

4 egg whites

250 g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon cornflour

For the topping

250 g (9 oz) fresh raspberries and blueberries

1 tablespoon icing sugar

200 ml (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) double cream

150 g (5.3 oz) Greek yogurt

• Preheat the oven to 150ºC (300ºF). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
• Whisk egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Continue to beat and add the sugar slowly. Add vinegar and cornflour. Spoon the mixture onto the parchment paper, forming a circle (or 2 smaller circles). Make the sides slightly higher than the middle of the circle. 
• Bake for 1 hour, turn off the oven and leave the meringue inside until it has completely cooled down (2-3 hours).  
• To prepare the topping, press some of your raspberries through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon. Throw away the seeds and mix the juice with the icing sugar. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff and fold in the yogurt. 
• Just before serving, spoon the cream-yogurt-mix on top of the meringue, drizzle the raspberry juice over it and top with fresh berries.

My modifications:

None. Other than using raspberries and blueberries (not just raspberries).

The taste:

Heavenly. Really. So light and yet so so good. Perfect for summer. You might not be able to stop eating it.

What is your favorite way of eating meringues?

17 | 52 Strawberry-Blueberry Crumb Bars

Fresh strawberries!

You just gotta do as much as you can using strawberries, while you can.

(Maybe in your part of the world you have fresh strawberries all year round but that's unfortunately not the case in Switzerland...)

And blueberries!

You just can't go wrong with blueberries.

Crumbs!

Yes! Always!

Sorry for the very boring pictures - I can't seem to shoot any good pictures before everything's eaten up lately...

Strawberry-Blueberry Crumb Bars

Adapted from the baker upstairs

200 g (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

375 g (3 cups) flour

227 g (1 cup) cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg, beaten

400 g (2 cups) fresh strawberries

200 g (2 cups) fresh blueberries

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

4 teaspoons corn starch

• Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF).
• Whisk together sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour. Add cold butter and mix in with your hands. Add the egg and make a crumbly dough. 
• Press half of the dough onto the bottom of the prepared pan (23cm x 33xm / 9in x 13in). 
• Wash your strawberries, chop off the green part and cut into quarters. Mix all berries with the 1/2 cup sugar and corn starch, then spread them on top of the dough in the pan. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the berry layer. 
• Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool.

My modifications:

None. Except for mixing strawberries and blueberries. The original recipe is for either one but not combined.

The taste:

Very good! Moist from the berries and very summery!

I stored it in the fridge and it actually tasted better the day after baking...

What's your favorite summer bake (with or without fruit)?

29*52 Gooseberry Sheet Cake

Gooseberries. I really like them.

But I don't think I ever baked anything with them.

Let's change that, alright?

Gooseberry Sheet Cake

Adapted from lecker.de

Dough:

250 g flour

2 tablespoons sugar

pintch of salt

125 ml milk

1/2 cube (20 g) fresh yeast

1 egg

Filling:

500 g fresh gooseberries

150 g butter, room temperature

75 g sugar

4 eggs

50 g flour

125 g heavy cream

• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and make a dent in the middle. Warm up milk, crumble yeast into it and dissolve. Pour yeast-milk into flour dent, cover and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes. Add the egg and mix, using your dough hook. Let rise for another 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F).
• Put dough onto prepared baking sheet (30x40 cm/12x16in), let rise for another 10 minutes.
• Distribute gooseberries evenly on dough.
• Cream together butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, then add flour and cream. Pour over gooseberries and bake for 30-35 minutes.

My modifications:
I used half flour, half ground almonds for the dough because I ran out of flour. (Yes, these things happen...). The dough was very fluffy (definitely not for rolling out) but I think that would have been the case if I had used only flour as well.

I used fresh gooseberries instead of canned ones.

The taste:

Good. But a bit too eggy - it does have an omelett taste and I just don't like that in a cake.

Also, the filling was way too fluid so it flowed underneath the yeast dough so that that cake looks more like: omelett - gooseberries - yeast dough. Very bizarre!

So all in all I would say it is edible but did not at all turn out as I thought.

Did anything you baked ever come out upside down?