Monday, January 24, 2011

Plum Tart


I had a bunch of new recipes I made during the last few months and I was about to post them when, poof!, all my pictures disappeared. All my food porn is gone! I just have to figure out a way to recover them, so instead I made this dessert tonight. 

I watched the Barefoot Contessa make this a few weekends ago on the Food Network and it looked ridiculously simple. And it is. A couple of notes, though: 
  1. Use very ripe (almost over ripened) prune plums. The more ripe they are, the more juice they'll give out making the tart sweet and tart at the same time. 
  2. I made mine in a cake pan and my plum tart was a little over-cooked, so for sure I recommend a tart pan. I think I need to invest in a good tart pan for myself.



INGREDIENTS
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), diced
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 pounds firm, ripe Italian prune plums, pitted and quartered lengthwise
DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the flour, walnuts, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and the egg yolk. Mix, either by hand or with an electric mixer, until crumbly.

Press 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture in an even layer into the bottom of a 9 1/2-inch springform or tart pan. Arrange the plums in the pan, skin side down, to form a flower pattern; begin at the outside and work your way in.

Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture evenly over the plums. Bake the tart for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it's lightly browned and the plum juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and transfer the tart to a flat plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.