Plum Tart

Plums happened to be on sale at the supermarket over the weekend when we were shopping for our groceries. So it made me think of baking some plum tarts as I had some unbaked tartlet shells waiting in the freezer to be filled with something delicious. I had made a double batch of tart pastry last month from baking a lemon tart. So really my work was already cut down by half in this case. We usually get a few varieties of plums locally and as these are imported fruits (as with berries and other nectarines), it’s usually too expensive. So I would only have the privilege of baking with fresh fruits when they are really on sale.

I like the idea of making tartlets as they are much easier to serve and presentation wise is way much neater. I had also bought these tartlets moulds with removable bottoms from e-bay (and at a steel may I add) a couple of months ago and simply love using them. I couldn’t find similar ones here in Singapore and so whatever I can’t find it locally, I resort to online shopping. Online shopping can be really addictive and I’ve heard of people who just simply buy stuff from the internet without thinking through whether they would need it or not. Is this “compulsive shopping” in another manner? I guess home television shopping falls into the same category as well. Imagine your house filled with stuff from television catalogues … now that would be a sure nightmare!



Plum Tart
Makes One 8" tart
Recipe from Chef Wan Tarts & Pies

Ingredients for the Crust:

250g all-purpose flour
200g cold butter, cut into small pieces
100g powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
grated zest of 1 lemon

Ingredients for the Filling:

1/2 cup ground almonds
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp corn flour (cornstarch)
4 Tbsp butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
6-8 large, sweet firm plums halved and seeded
Some melted butter
Apricot jam, heated with a little water to glaze the baked tart

Method:

1) In a good processor, quickly mix all ingredients for crust to form a ball of dough. Flatten dough slightly, then cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for an hour or 2.

2) Roll out chilled dough to form a circle about 2" wider than your tart pan. Line the pan with the dough and cut out the excess. Refrigerate for about an hour. Bake pastry blind, covered with parchment paper and filled with beans in an oven preheated to 175C for about 15 minutes. Remove parchment and bake for another 5 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Take out from oven to cool.

3) Then prepare the almond filling by combine almonds, sugar, corn flour and butter in a mixing bowl. Beat together on speed 2 to mix well until well incorporated and smooth. Increase speed and whisk in egg and vanilla extract for about 1 minute.

4) Spread almond filling over the dough and arrange with plums Brush with some melted butter and bake in an oven preheated to 180C for 30 - 35 minutesuntil plums soften and pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven and glaze the top of the tart with apricot jam.