By now I am sure you are aware that I have a super sweet tooth…so whenever the opportunity arises I am baking something delicious and decadent in my kitchen. This tart is a little different from my normal over the top choices…don’t get me wrong, it is delicious! However, it is not super sweet, rather just the right about of sweet.
It is really easy to make and pairs well with ice cream or cream. The flavour combination of plums and cinnamon is delicious and always a favourite in my mind. Note the perfect colour pairing, my Le Creuset “Cassis” coloured fluted dish is colour co-ordinated with the plums!
Confessions:
- I must confess that this is not my original recipe, but rather take from the Le Creuset website. I have adapted it slightly as I needed.
- Plum jam can be extreme difficult to find…I couldn’t find any so instead I used Peach and it was delicious. In my mind, as long as you use peach or apricot it will be fine. The flavours are slightly different but similar in a way.
- I made this tart way in advance as it was for our wine pairing and I think it would have been even better fresh – so I recommend not making it too far in advance
- It pairs really well with the Nederberg Winemaster’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 🙂
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!
Ingredients
- 225 g plain flour
- 125 g firm butter, diced
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 8 tsp semi skimmed milk
- 450 g firm, purple skinned plums
- 75 g butter, softened
- 75 g caster sugar
- 50 g semolina
- 125 g plain flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 5 tbsp plum jam
Method
- Pre heat oven to 190°C.
- Put the flour and diced butter into a mixing bowl. Rub the butter lightly into the flour until the consistency resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the icing sugar and mix to a firm dough with the milk.
- Knead on a floured surface for a few seconds until the texture is smooth. Cover in cling wrap and rest in the kitchen for 15 minutes.
- On a floured surface roll the pastry into a circle large enough to line the base and the sides of the dish. Using the rolling pin as a support lower the pastry into the dish, pressing it gently over the base and into the flutes. Trim away excess pastry from the top edge and prick all over the base with a fork.
- Transfer to the refrigerator for 30 minutes – 1 hour, (this helps prevent shrinkage of the pastry when it goes into a hot oven)
- Line the pastry with a piece of baking paper and fill with baking beans or dried beans. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes at 190°C.
- Remove the foil or paper and beans and bake for a further 2 minutes.
- Cool the pastry case for 15 minutes.
- Prepare the plums by cutting into halves and remove the stones. Cut each half in half again.
- Put all the ingredients for the filling, except the jam, into a bowl. Beat until smooth (or use a food processor and process for 30 - 40 seconds).
- Spread the jam evenly over the base of the pastry case. Top with the filling, spreading it right to the edges, so that the jam is sealed beneath it.
- Press the plum quarters, skin side up, gently into the filling, making a close circular pattern.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 190°C, then reduce to 180°C and continue baking for a further 15 – 20 minutes. The filling should be just firm at the centre and the plums tender.
- Dust with icing sugar before serving warm, with vanilla ice cream.
Plum & Cinnamon Tart (L: Taken with iPhone and R : Taken with Canon 5D MIII)
