There are so many touchstones that announce fall's arrival. Think school buses, shorter days, cooler nights and mums in bloom. For me, an early harbinger is the arrival of Italian prune plums. In late ...

This week, I was invited to a friend’s place to break the fast for Yom Kippur. I was tasked with making a dessert, and after a lot of research on what is traditional for the holiday, I found that, ...

Instructions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, dust with flour and tap out the excess. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, ...

Peter Hoffman likes using purple plums, a.k.a. Italian prune plums, for this lightly spiced cake because they bake so well; the flavors intensify, but the plums don't become mushy. The garnishes are ...

The appearance of prune plums and Black Mission figs in late summer is a gentle but firm reminder that our current bounty of delicate fruits will soon give way to fall's crisper, heartier cousins. To ...

If central Europe had a counterpart to the phrase, "as American as apple pie," it would have to be "as German (or Swiss, or Austrian) as pflaumenkuchen." Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake) is the most common ...

This cake is amazing. Is there any way to capture the flavor without all the fat? - Brenda, Chicago ITALIAN PLUM CAKE 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 4 eggs 1 ...

Black plum cake with crumb topping, decorated wtih thinly sliced plums that didn't fit into the pan. (Photo by Judy Walker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) Here's the original recipe for Plum Cake with ...

I'd never tasted — let alone baked — the dazzling plum torte from the New York Times, despite its firmly entrenched role in the national baking consciousness. Fortunately, my pal John rectified that ...