I've made it a few times now, too. So far have only used 'summer' fruit, no berries. Personally don't like cooked strawberries, but they make a pretty torte, don't they!

Cinnamon is probably my all time favorite spice, so IMHO, it 'goes with' everything. Now I'm looking forward to trying it with Cardamom. Also was thinking about adding some nuts, then read where some of you did.

As Linda C says, the possibilities are endless. Limited only by the imagination and taste buds.

Thank you from me, too jojoco, for giving us this recipe.

Rusty

I have made this couple of times now. My change to the recipe has been, instead of butter, I use 4 oz of Country Crock spread. I count calories, and this substitution lowers the calorie count quit a bit. As the spread is salty, I do not add any additional salt either. I have used it with apples and pineapples, both have come out great tasting, I have one little slice and my guys eat the rest very fast :)

Anyone ever make it with rhubarb? I was thinking of using stewed rhubarb mixed with strawberries, not just freshly cut rhubarb? Or would fresh cut be better?
Clare

Clare, I think freshly cut and unsweetened rhubarb would be too tart for anyone other than the most diehard rhubarb fans, I'd go for the stewed mixture.

It sounds yummy, I love rhubarb, now that's on my "to try" list.....

Annie

Well, I guess I'm the lone dissenter here because I thought this was just ok although I really thought I would love it. I made it tonight with fresh peeled peaches and in a tart pan w/removable bottom and exactly as the recipe stated although I did add some vanilla and did use the cinnamon and sugar on top. To me, it's just a butter cake with some fruit.
I prefer the caramely taste of fruit crisps more and I like a sweeter dessert and perhaps more complex flavors though I do see the possibilities in the recipe.

I made mine with fresh raspberries and blueberries and it was wonderful. Has anyone tried it with just blueberries?
Annie..... I baked it in a old release cake pan and it worked great. Can't figure out why they are not sold anymore. At least I haven't seen any.
Lois

You can still buy those cake pans with the release bar, Lois--you just have to look a little harder. They have them at Fantes (link below--scroll about three-quarters of the way down the page and you'll see it) and on eBay. I'm sure Wilton must sell them, too. This cake is so buttery, though, that it tends to grease its own pan. I made it in a blackened tin tart pan, and it slid out with no trouble at all.

Here is a link that might be useful: cake pan with cutter bar

Thanks for the information on the Fantes website. I had no idea they were still available,
Lois

Killer-looking tortes.

Marian Burros' recipe is one I've had, but never tried because it just sounded too simple to be good Âknow what I mean?
But your spectacular pictures and results have changed my mind.

Btw, Marian's recipe was originally made using 12 Italian prune plums, halved.

And now that Italian prune plums have made their debut in MI., I'm going to join you all in a baking jamboree. Thanks Jo.

Sol

Oh man! You guys are making me hungry. I have just finished eating lunch! Great pictures and they all look so yummy!

I can't help but laugh at myself this morning. I'm such a dough-head. Several days ago I made one that flopped. I made it in a tin torte pan, luckily I decided to put a cookie sheet under it because in 25 minutes it was overflowing and almost brown. I had a few bites but threw it out. I've reread the messages and decided to try again. This time I thought I better use the springform pan in case it was going to overflow again.

So I started the recipe, had the peaches already cut, so I wouldn't have to let everything sit out (thanks Linda) and when I got to the baking soda amount...I realized it says baking "powder". DUH! So I'm hoping that was my only mistake. Here are pics of what just went in the oven. My dough doesn't look quite as stiff as Joan's but my eggs were large, maybe the difference.
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I'll post pics if this is a success.

TA DA!!! Slightly excited, DH will be too. Thanks for the great recipe, the messages, and pics.
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Very Pretty Natesgramma.

So, the ones who used Pineapple didn't like it?

Has anyone actually done a strawberry/rhubarb yet?

I love it with pineapple, although I have yet to make one with only pineapple. Last night I used one apple and 1/4 of pineapple. Cut them to small chunks and mixed into the patter. Then bored it to the pan and baked. My DH liked this method result more, said it was more moist than the previous versions, where I laid the fruit on top.

Raspberry Chocolate - yummmmmm! Took to a party last night and it vanished while I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water from the fridge.

Anybody try a savory one?
Seems like you could omit the sugar (add some parmesean cheese), top with garlic slices, mushrooms, peppers, and Walla Walla onion rings!! (can ya tell I'm harvesting those now??!?!? I've got about 20 lbs. sitting on the counter right now, probably 5-6 lbs. already chopped and frozen and more still in the ground).

So, d'ya think it would be good as a savory dish?
Any other changes you'd suggest?

Deanna

How about tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella,garlic. Yum.

Deanna, as soon as I tried it I was thinking it would be good as something breakfasty, like with bacon or sausage and cheese. But onions. Yes

So, yes, I tried it too. It's good! And if you don't have a kitchen, it cooks up just fine in a pie dish and toaster oven. One should avoid reading about baking when one's kitchen is being remodeled, but this looked doable.

Thanks, fori.
Did you omit the sugar or leave it in?

I'll have to try it I guess! Hoping it cools down here so I can cook again. I am getting awfully tired of sandwiches and "cold food" dinners.

A co-worker will be sharing figs soon. I'm thinking that would be really good too, maybe drizzled with a little honey before baking. Mmmm.

Deanna

Ohh no no. I was being very unclear! In fact I was downright misleading. I did not write what I thought I wrote! :O
oops!

I meant I tried it as written (mostly) and THEN I thought it would be good savory. So I was just thinking on the same lines as you but didn't actually get it done! So you get to try it first and let me know. (But a toaster oven won't heat up the house too much.)

Now, if I actually pay attention to my message preview maybe I can actually make sense, somewhat...

jojoco, I think we need to crown you Queen of the Fruit Torte!! How many comments, 120+?

You are the queen! Thanks so much from all of us. :)

It is my turn to thank all of you. When I posted this recipe, I decided not to specify "italian plums" (as per the recipe), because I wanted to make it as versatile as possible. I am so glad I did that because you all have amazed me with your endless creativity. And now savory!!! I am so glad everyone liked it. I will never make it again without thinking of all of you and smiling.

Jo

And now for a cyber vocabulary phrase lesson - everyone say 'Epic Fail!'

- in sprayed, non-stick muffin cups - couldn't possibly stick, says she....welll......they stuck! But they were good! sorry out of focus. My bad.

OH, yes Sol, yes Italian prune plums just as I thought...we foodies we can handle the EYEtalian ones. I would imagine it would be more jammy like Annies. Annie u jammin.

I'm in with peaches and plums but it only took like 2 pieces of fruit - lol. Mine is a big more caramelized? I guess too much brown sugar and I didn't get the cool effect...but still pretty and smells delightful. Will be enjoying later on the back deck with a glass of recession red (crossing my fingers by myself - lol).

Thanks for posting, Jo!

...and I meant to add an aaawwwwww, Jesse.

When was the last time a single recipe was followed by so many posts?

I've copied and pasted this one.

Joe

Jessy, I see muffin liners in your future LOL

Just took one out the oven made with Crisco and lemonzest f or flavoring, fruit is blueberries and nectarines. We're invited out for dinner and our hosts keep kosher so it needed to be dairy free.

Will let you know how it tastes later.

Well, it was actually quite good. Everyone else loved it but the butter flavor was definitely missing. The lemon made up for it though

Jesse, I think it's a good idea to make it in muffin pans. That would be a good way to make little individual servings.

I also have been thinking about how to make it savory, since I've been trying to figure out what to do with all my tomatoes. In baking, sugar is considered a liquid, so should a liquid something or other be subbed for the sugar if making it a savory torte?

Sally

Hahah! I know my pineapple torte picture was funny looking! When I peeked thru the oven window and saw that dough coming up through the holes, I laughed too! Looks like little boobies! hahah!! A Boobie Torte.

The pineapple was good but there wasn't enough of it. I would use chunks of it and use more next time. The boys loved the one I made w/strawberries & blueberries better than the pineapple. But like I said , only because there wasn't enough pineapple.

I want to try peaches next time!

Shaun, when I saw the pineapple cake, my first thought was..."hmmmm.....more 'nips!'" Not boobies - LOL!

Jessy, thank you for your failed experiment to show us what NOT to do! LOL! But....I just remembered that I have some individual porcelain quiche/brulee pans up in the back of a cabinet. I want to try plums next.

Would love to try this in a tart pan. But 9" or 10"?

Bonnie

P.S. Will probably try this gluten-free too at some point (living on the edge!)

Well, y'all made me do it. Mine's in the oven as I sit here and type. I had some peach slices in the freezer so I made mine with that, to go with some peach gelato I made yesterday. It's a beautiful looking torte, and so easy. Thanks for the inspiration.

I really should stay away from this thread... but I can't help it. LOL Everything looks so dangerously delicious! Now I want to make mixed berries muffins... maybe Monday will be a good day.

WINNER! Made this morning (all blueberries) half gone. May have another slice with ice cream tonight.

Last year, I had to make a french gateau (gah! time consuming) for my daughter's french class -- had to buy a springform pan. Been collecting dust since then.

On a personal note, I should have made sure that my springform was really sealed correctly or put a cookie sheet underneath, but the oven mess was worth it.

Bumblebeez -- interesting comment about complexity. My son and I were saying that this torte really lets the fruit taste shine through and tasted "clean." I used lemon zest/small amt. cinnamon/sugar.

Great -- Thanks!

Cathy in SWPA

Oh, rats!! mouth is watering and I don't have a springform pan. Can I substitute anything else? only have a 10" angel food cake pan.

BT, it can be made in a cake pan with one of those release levers and I think it could be made in a deep dish pie plate, although that first wedge might be hard to get out.

Annie

Oh, and I made mine in a tart pan with a removable bottom that Jessica gave me when she stayed with me here in Michigan.

Annie

What size tart pan, please??

Bonnie

Nice to see such enthusiasm about a Marion Burros recipe. She was one of my favorite food writers, but so few people remember her any longer.

I have made this in a 9" deep dish pan pan... but it didn't do as well as it did in the metal (aluminum?) cake pan.

So far, I have made it in a 9" springform pan, deep dish glass pie pan, and a 9" aluminum cake pan. The aluminum cake pan has "cooked" it the best so far.

I did put parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan and it released just fine.

As a side note.... I have started sprinkling sugar in the bottom of the pan (and on the sides) in the cooking spray... and it is a wonderful "crunch" added to the crust.

I've made at least 8 of this recipe so far... the variations are endless.

I'be made it twice with blueberries (everybody loved it, I thought it was ok) I made one with apricots, and that was heavenly. The apricots were quite tart, and it blended so well with the sweet of the "cake" that it was fabulous. Today I am making one from blackberries, one from peaches, and one from plums. Next it will be tart cherries.
This dessert is quite good, and so easy to make that it is surprising how good it is.
Thanks jojo for turning us all on to this.

Mouth watering recipe. As much as I want to cook this exciting recipe like others who posted their delicious dessert. I hope I can post mine too. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, please more pictures!!!

My peach torte with peach gelato turned out to be a huge hit. It was so successful, I decided to go ahead and see if a savory version would turn out for me. It's in the oven right now, so I have to wait 45 minutes to discover if it will be a ''hit'', or I ''missed''!

Here is what I did: I substituted the sugar for parmesan cheese I ground in the food processor, and added about 3 T. of chopped chives to the softened butter. After adding the eggs, flour, salt and baking powder, I spread the batter into a greased tart pan, evening it out with an offset spatula. I covered the batter with a thin layer of some French onion sour cream I made yesterday (by carmelizing the onions until they were deeply browned, and stirring them into the sour cream). To that I added a 1/4 lb. of browned sausage (Des Moines finest, Graziano's!), and about 1 Tablespoon of parmesan, which I reserved for the top.

I hope it tastes good...

Even if it doesn't, the French Onion dip is to die for. I may just have to console myself with that!

I wouldn't call it a success. (In other words, don't do this.) It tastes good, but the chemistry just isn't right without the sugar. Also, parmesan is too heavy (IMHO) for this; now I know! The crust looked more like cornbread, and didn't rise much.

Stick to the sweet torte.

Ah well. Were would we be without experiments? I do dearly love to dabble.

I'll bet the "chemistry" would be better if you omitted some of the butter when you added the cheese.....I also have 1/2 pound of graziano's sausage ion the freezer....
But that may be better with zucchini!
Linda C

I want to add my thanks for this wonderful and easy recipe. I brought it to a friend's home this afternoon, and every person there asked me for the recipe. I used raspberries, blueberries, and peaches. It was absolutely delicious, and I was proud to tell where I got the recipe.

Thanks so much.
Mary, who's not a baker

Thanks for the recipe jojoco. I found this thread Sat. evening and made 2 Sunday morning. It was the perfect dessert (easy, fast and delicious) for the cook out we had to welcome Boston to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and to meet Great Grandma, Aunts, Uncles and cousins.

I made the first one with nectarine, raspberries and blackberries, the second one I added blueberries. Everyone liked it!

Di

Let me officially retire this thread on a fun note. My daughter is 14 and loves to bake. She made this last night with zero help from me. It is a perfect cake for a burgeoning baker. Like every torte pictured here, hers was both lovely looking and delicious.
Jo