Testing out the viral plum torte recipe

Welcome to our first Insta-Recipe Challenge, where we use our amateur cooking skills to see if those viral online recipes — you know the ones we're talking about — actually work.

I've been watching folks whip up "easy" versions of this New York Times recipe for years, and now that it's plum season I finally made it.

The gist: Slightly sour juicy fruit soaks into a batter of heavy butter, sugar and eggs, creating a sturdy dessert.

The difficulty: The hardest part is whipping the butter, especially when your hand mixer poops out midway and you have to work by hand.

• One version of the recipe said keeping the butter cool — but not cold — and whipping until fluffy guarantees a lighter cake, so I did that.

The problem: The recipe says to sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the plum halves before baking, but that just made my already burned cake look singed.

The verdict: Despite my careless burning from leaving it in the oven too long, the cake tasted wonderful with a nice balance of sweet, rich and sour flavors.

• Friends tell me they use the same base batter with many different tart fruits and get great results.

Rating: 🥄 🥄🥄 out of five spoons.

What's next: Tell us which online recipes you want us to test out in the future.