This Cake Is So Good, My Grandma Requested It For Her 100th Birthday

Later this month, my grandma will celebrate her 100th birthday. I know. If you've read anything I've written about my Nana, you'll know that even at 99, she is just as sharp and stubborn as ever (or, in her words, she likes what she likes). You'll also know that her favorite meal is dessert, and one of her secrets to longevity is eating at least one piece of chocolate every day. That's why I knew she'd have strong opinions when it came to her birthday cake.

Her birthday falls in September and every year it overlaps with a seasonal stone fruit that happens to be the basis of one of her all-time favorite desserts. It's the dessert she asks for every year, so I shouldn't be surprised that it was her answer when I asked what she'd like for her centennial cake. Even if you're not celebrating anything this month, here's why you should give my grandma's favorite plum cake a try.

My Grandma's Favorite Plum Cake

The lore of this dessert goes back many generations, but the recipe came to me in the form of a butter-stained, flour-streaked photocopy printed on my grandpa's stationary and marked up with his handwritten notes. My copy is dated September 1998, though the introduction denotes that the recipe has been passed down through several generations (and at least three name changes) and translated from its original German.

Our family recipe is simply called a Plum-Streusel Cake, but really it's a take on the German Zwetschgenkuchen, or Pflaumenkuchen (which essentially translates to plum cake). There are many variations, but it's typically a layer of cake or short crust pastry with lots of juicy plums and sometimes a streusel topping. But not just any plums—Italian plums.

What Are Italian Plums?

Italian plums, sometimes called prune plums or Zwetschge in German-speaking countries are a small, oval-shaped plum variety. They're more tart than sweet when raw, and hold their form well when cooked, making them an ideal choice for baking, turning into jam, or drying (they're called prune plums for a reason).

There are many varieties of seasonally-available plums, but these are the traditional pick for a German plum cake. I typically find them at my local farmer's market, but they can also be found in some grocery stores in September, when they're in peak season. You can also use Damson plums, sugarplums, or any other kind of plum in a pinch and the cake will still turn out delicious. Now, for the recipe.

How to Make My Grandma's Favorite Plum Cake

The bad news is I can't, in good conscience, share our secret family recipe. The good news is these days I don't even make it, because I found a simpler recipe that tastes just as good if not better (sorry family!) with fewer steps and fewer ingredients. That would be none other than Marian Burros' famous Plum Torte.

The legend behind this recipe is nearly as long and fabled as my family's recipe. As the story goes, the New York Times printed the recipe in 1983 and ran it every summer until 1989, "when the editors determined that enough was enough." Readers protested, writing angry letters to the Times and demanding they bring the tradition back. And so they did. "We pledge that every year, as summer gives way to fall, we will make sure that the recipe is easily available to one and all."

On the Times' website it's got a 5-star rating and nearly 11,000 reviews, but it's also published to our website under the moniker Easy Plum Cake. Marian Burros' recipe is shockingly simple, but tastes so special. Every single time I serve it, without a doubt, someone asks me for the recipe. I've made it countless times, with all kinds of fruit, from peaches and nectarines in the summer to apples in the fall to berries (thawed from frozen) in the winter. I've even bonded with friends' parents and grandparents, who clipped the recipe in the 80s or 90s and made it ever since. Clearly this cake has an impact on people.

It doesn't have the same streusel topping that my grandpa's had, so I like to sprinkle crunchy Demerara sugar on top along with a little extra cinnamon. Or, sometimes I still make a simple crumb topping on the side and add it to Burros' recipe on top of the plums before baking.

As for my Nana? A few years back, I made this recipe instead of my grandpa's, wanting to give it a try and see if I could cut a few steps from my (somewhat fussy) family recipe. I added a splash of dark rum and a bit of cinnamon to the batter as a nod to my grandpa's recipe. She was impressed, and happily agreed I could make that recipe from there on out. It will once again be plopped in front of my Nana on her birthday at the end of the month—with special '100' candles—and she'll be as happy as ever. This year, I've even agreed that she can have the whole cake to herself.

In a way, Burros' cake has become our new tradition, with a nod to the family recipe, but brought into the modern world. Any way you make it, it's guaranteed to taste downright delicious. I hope you try it, and share it with a loved one, be it a grandma or friend or coworker. It's a recipe that just tastes like love.