Makes 12 pieces.
Use a 10” (26 centimeter) spring form pan.
Crust:
250 grams flour
1 t. baking powder
1 egg
100 grams granulated sugar
(1 package vanilla sugar – hard to find; I omitted)
Zest of one lemon (grated)
125 grams butter, cold (a little more than 1 stick of butter)
Mix above ingredients together with your hands, until well blended -- but
don’t work the dough too much (you can do this on a breadboard, or in
a fairly large mixing bowl).
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 min. in refrigerator.
Meanwhile, prepare filling.
Filling:
100 grams marzipan paste
150 grams granulated sugar, divided
1/8 t. (about) cinnamon
6 egg whites, divided
100 grams ladyfinger cookies (broken into pieces)
750 grams fresh plums
(For “frosting” :)
Plum jam (it should be more like plum “butter” – i.e., without
plum chunks in it) – you’ll need at least 300 grams of this
100 grams “Haselnuss-Krokant” – this is like hazelnut brittle
(without chocolate!). If you’re lucky, you can buy it on the internet.
Or buy some nut brittle and knock it to pieces like I did.
Powdered sugar
Crumble the marzipan paste into small pieces, and mix it together with 75
grams of sugar, the cinnamon, and one unbeaten egg white in a medium large
bowl.
Mix in the ladyfinger pieces.
Wash the plums and remove the pits. Save 12 plum halves (or quarters, if the
plums are big) to put on the top of the torte, and cut the rest of the plums
into small pieces.
Beat the remaining 5 egg whites until very stiff, and gradually add the remaining
75 grams sugar. Fold this into the marzipan mixture.
Then mix in the cut-up plum pieces.
Grease the 10”springform pan well. Preheat oven to ~390o.
Take the crust dough out of the fridge and knead it a little. Roll it out
between plastic wrap (I rolled out a 10”circle for the bottom of the
pan first, then 2 separate long “strips” about 2.5” high
for the sides of the crust, pinching all togetherin the spring form pan so
there were no gaps). Fit the crust dough into the pan, covering the bottom & up
the sides.
Pour in the marzipan filling, and place the 12 plum halves on top of the batter
around the edge.
Bake about 45 minutes.
Cool torte on a cooling rack (in the pan).
Carefully remove the side of the pan.
“Frosting”:
Cover the sides of the torte with a fairly thick layer of plum jam (use a spatula).
Apply the nut brittle pieces to the sides, pressing them gently into the jam;
and sprinkle the rest over the top of the torte.
Sift powdered sugar over the top.