Plum Torte

This is a very popular recipe . . . because it's simple and delicious.  I've reformatted the recipe to make it easier for me to use and reduced the sugar by a few tablespoons.

• The first time I made this, I ran out of sugar, and substituted ¼ cup brown sugar, and it came out fine. This time I used all white sugar and it worked again.
• The recipe calls for 1 cup sifted flour the first time, which was probably foolish. This time I did not sift the flower before measuring, but I also did not pack the flour into the measuring cup. The first time, the batter rose up and completely covered the plums; this time it did not.
• Some versions of this recipe say to place the plum halves skin side down and others say skin side up. I tried skin side down the first time and skin side up this time.
• The torte can be frozen after baking and cooling. It should be double wrapped in foil and then placed in a plastic bag. To serve, just defrost and warm it up in a 300° oven.

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Adapted from The New York Times. Searching online, I've learned that it's in two Marian Burros cookbooks: Cooking for Comfort and The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook.
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1 cup sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 stick butter (½ cup)

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

12 Itallian prune plums, washed, halved, and pitted
1 teaspoon (or more) cinnamon

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• Move oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°.
• Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• Cream the butter and sugar (minus one tablespoon, which you should save for later).
• Add the eggs one at a time.
• Add one third of the dry ingredients. Blend well. Repeat two more times until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
• Place batter into an ungreased 9- or 10-inch springform pan.
• Arrange the plums, skin side down, on top of the batter.
• Mix the cinnamon and the reserved tablespoon of sugar. Sprinkle mixture over the plums.
• Bake 40-50 minutes until the center tests done.
• Cool to room temperature.