7-Ingredient Vegan Plum Torte – Easy & Delicious!

Easy.

Delicious.

Only 7 ingredients!!

This vegan plum torte is my veganization of Marian Burros’s Original Plum Torte recipe, which has a whopping 16,730 reviews averaging a perfect 5-star rating on the NYT’s Cooking app (which I adore, btw). Plums are peaking right now and there is no reason that non-dairy, egg-free folks can’t enjoy this beautiful, easy, and rustic fruit cake that requires so few ingredients and little work. Whether you’re looking to bring the showstopper to your next potluck or simply want something delicious with your morning coffee, you’re in for a sweet treat!

So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links for products I use and love. If you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I may earn a small affiliate commission, perhaps enough to buy some extra gochujang or gochugaru 🙂

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What Is The Difference Between a Torte and a Tart and a Cake?

Let’s start with:

What is a torte? A torte is a dense, rich, almost fudge-like cake. Many of them are made with little to no flour, opting instead for nuts or bread crumbs. Tortes are usually layered and in lieu of heavy frostings, feature jams or fruit instead.

How is this different from a cake? Cakes are usually fluffier, featuring a lighter crumb. Because cakes are made with flour, they are dimensionally higher than tortes (which are typically flatter). And unlike tortes, which are fairly straightforward in terms of decoration, cakes can be elaborate affairs, featuring rich frostings, fondant, and all sorts of toppings.

How is a torte different from a tart? Generally speaking, the main difference is that a tart traditionally entails a crust, which usually means there’s a filling. Those are two tell-tale signs that whatever delicious pastry you’re delighting in is a tart, rather than a torte or a mere cake.

To be honest, this recipe is made with flour (you can sub in gluten-free), includes no nuts or bread crumbs, and has only one layer. Accordingly, I don’t think it truly qualifies as a vegan plum torte; however, because it is a veganized version of Burros’s famous recipe of that same name, I won’t quibble!

Key Ingredients and Notes on Substitutions for Vegan Plum Torte.

As the title of this blog post advertises, there are only 7 ingredients in this vegan plum torte! So, let’s go through each of them in turn:

Plums.

Yes, this vegan plum torte will require plums! I went to my local farmers’ market and had the vendor help me pick out the best plums for my vegan plum torte, but here’s a small, truncated guide in that regard:

When are plums in season? Plums are in peak season from the months of June to August in the United States, as are most stone fruits. Hot summer temps = plum season!

How to pick out sweet plums? Check for uniform color and consistency. Spotty or broken skin usually will not yield sweet fruit.

Can I use golden plums? Yes! My farmers market had a variety of different kinds of plums and I picked out a couple from each basket, including some beautiful golden plums or Mirabelle plums. They are very sweet, a little tart, and have a tender flesh that works so well with this vegan plum torte.

Now, I know what you’re going to ask–can I use frozen plums? Sure thing! If plums are not in season when you stumble upon this recipe, but you have a stash of frozen ones, go for it!

Can you use prunes? I mean, you can try? The thing with prunes is that you will need to rehydrate them and after that, I can’t speak to how much the amount of liquid or the cook time in this recipe will need to be adjusted. Fresh plums are juicy, and this recipe depends upon that juice to keep the torte nice and moist.

Vegan Butter.

As I mentioned above, one of the main differences between a torte and a cake is that a torte is rich and dense. How do we achieve that texture in this vegan plum torte? We rely on vegan butter. Why vegan butter? Because it is solid-ish at room temperature. Anytime you’re trying to create density in a pastry, butter is usually involved precisely because of its consistency at room temperature. If you want a fluffier pastry, then you go with oil–something that’s liquid at room temperature.

This should also help you in trying to figure out substitutes, right? What’s a source of fat that’s relatively solid at room temp? Vegetable shortening is one. So is coconut oil. These are the two substitutes I would recommend for this vegan plum torte if you can’t get your hands on vegan butter.

Sugar.

I know that some of you don’t like sugar, but hear me out:

This recipe calls for less sugar than most.

This recipe requires sugar to help with fluffing up and leavening your pastry.

This recipe can be reserved just for those special occasions.

Look, tortes are generally considered to be a more “elevated” dish (did I say that in a snooty British accent? maybe…), so you don’t have to make this dish for your everyday breakfast (though you could…). More to the point from a methodological point of you, the sugar is necessary to cream the butter. What does “cream the butter” mean? No, it’s not an entendre; it’s a literal thing you do to aerate your butter. The sugar crystals are hard and sharp, and when you mix them with softened (or even cold) butter, the crystals create teensy little air pockets in the butter. This “fluffy” butter will then help to create a little lift in your pastry.

Given the lack of eggs, vegan pastries need all the help they can get when it comes to sweet architecture. That said, tortes are not meant to be fluffy. They’re supposed to be dense. If you’re ok with a very flat, super dense torte, you could substitute with:

• Date sugar
• Coconut sugar
• Brown sugar

I would not try to substitute with a liquid sweetener here, as doing so may result in a forever raw torte. Another option would be to cut the amount of sugar in this recipe to 1/2 cup (as opposed to 3/4).

Vegan Hi-Protein Yogurt.

Hi, yes, vegan hi-protein yogurt again! It is now my go-to egg substitute for pastries, since it worked out so well for my vegan banana bread and my vegan chocolate chip cookies. Once again, the protein in the yogurt will help with structure in this vegan plum torte. The acid in the yogurt will also keep your torte tender and soft. I used Silk’s Non-dairy Vanilla Greek Yogurt for this recipe and it turned out great. You can also use Icelandic Skyr or even Siggi’s hi-protein yogurt.

As for substitutes, you can, of course, use non-high-protein yogurt, though you might have a flatter torte (still delicious!). You can also use vegan sour cream as a great substitute. Finally, apple sauce or mashed bananas can also serve as effective binding agents that also lend moisture, but will lead to a flatter torte.

All Purpose Flour.

Many tortes do not include flour at all, which is why I question whether the original plum torte recipe was really a torte and not, perhaps, a simple plum cake. Be that as it may, like the original, this vegan plum torte includes 1 cup of all purpose flour. You can, of course, substitute with gluten-free flour (I really like Bob’s Red Mill’s GF blend).

Ground Cinnamon.

I’m usually not a big fan of ground cinnamon, but it adds a great deal of dimension to this vegan plum torte, I would not skip it! If you don’t have ground cinnamon, you can use a little pumpkin spice seasoning, a tiny bit of nutmeg, or even ground cardamom if you want to get a little fancy. You can also finish the vegan plum torte with a little powdered sugar, though I think cinnamon gives it that “elevated” flair.

Baking Powder.

Without eggs, we need baking powder. Of all the things that are going to ensure that this vegan plum torte doesn’t turn into a brick, baking powder is that! There’s no substitute for this one!

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Vegan plum torte.

Cream the Butter.

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper and generally grease the sides (this torte will want to stick!).

Cream the butter by adding both the butter and sugar to a large bowl (if using a hand mixer) or the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low and slowly increase speed until your sugar is fully incorporated and your butter is light yellow and fluffy.

Mix.

Add the vegan yogurt and mix on high until fully incorporated (about 30 seconds). Then, sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until a thick batter forms. Spoon the batter into your springform pan and spread it out evenly using the back of a large spoon or an offset spatula.

Add Plums.

Place pitted plum halves skin-side up in the batter. Try to avoid getting too close to the edge of the cake, as doing so will make freeing the cake from your pan infinitely harder (I learned that the hard way….). Don’t put in too many plum halves close together, as doing so will weigh down your torte and make it more likely to fall apart. You want there to be some space between them. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Bake.

Bake in the oven for 60 to 67 minutes (will depend on how juicy your plums are), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes. Then, run a sharp knife around the edge before undoing the spring and freeing the cake from the pan. Allow the cake to cool for another 10 minutes before serving with a dollop of vegan whipped cream or ice cream and slices of fresh plum.

Want More Great Vegan Desserts?

I got you. Check out the following:

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Comments & Questions.