Country Style Plum Tart Recipes

RUSTIC PLUM TART

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt several times to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces remaining. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. (If needed, add up to 2 tablespoons more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Do not overmix.
• Turn dough out onto a floured work surface; knead once or twice. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Flour a large (about 16 inches long) piece of parchment paper. Place dough on paper. Using your knuckles, press edges of dough so it doesn't crack during rolling. Lightly flour top of dough to prevent sticking; roll out to a 14-inch round. Transfer dough (still on parchment) to prepared baking sheet.
• Make the filling and bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together plums, sugar, and flour. Mound plum mixture in center of prepared crust, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Fold border over fruit in a pleated pattern. Brush dough with egg wash.
• Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling (see note), about 45 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a rack; let cool 20 minutes. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

PLUM TART

Steps:

• 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.

COUNTRY-STYLE PLUM TART

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add water by tablespoonfuls and process just until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on large sheet of floured parchment paper to 1/4-inch-thick round. Trim dough to 14-inch diameter. Transfer dough on parchment paper to large baking sheet (edges of dough may hang over edges of baking sheet).
• Make filling:
• Mix plums, jam, vanilla, and allspice in large bowl. Mound plum mixture in center of dough, leaving 3-inch border. Sprinkle fruit with 2 tablespoons sugar. Fold dough border over fruit, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks. Bush dough with beaten egg. Sprinkle dough with 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Bake tart until crust is brown and filling bubbles, about 45 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to rack and cool tart slightly, about 20 minutes. Slide metal spatula under all sides of crust to free from parchment. Using large tart pan bottom as aid, transfer tart to platter. Serve warm or at room temperature with frozen yogurt.

PLUM TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. If using smaller, halved plums, use a paring knife to cut a 3/4-inch slit through the top of each half, from the tip of the plum to just above where the pit should be. (This will allow the liquid from the plums to evaporate during baking instead of settling into the pit cavity.)
• Place pastry shell on a sheet pan or baking sheet. Spread crumbs or crumble topping over bottom of pastry shell in an even layer. Arrange plums in tight concentric circles in pastry shell, skin-side down, beginning with rim of the pan and standing plums up slightly.
• Mix together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle 2 tablespoons over plums. Place in oven and bake 45 minutes, or until tips of plums have colored; plums should retain their shape. Remove from heat, on baking sheet, and allow to cool on a rack.
• Once plums have cooled, sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the fruit. Alternatively, heat jam in a small saucepan until runny and, instead of sprinkling fruit with sugar, gently brush cooled plums with jam to glaze.

PLUM TART

Steps:

• To make the pastry, combine the flour, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, combine half of the butter slices with the flour until mixture resembles coarse meal. Cut in the remaining butter slices until the dough forms chunks the size of large peas. Stir in the water with a fork. The dough should hold together when pressed. If it doesn't, add a few more drops of ice water. Shape the dough into a ball and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rough circle about 15 inches in diameter. Do not try to make a perfect circle -- its roughness is part of its charm. Place the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• To make the filling, combine the flour with 3 tablespoons of the sugar. Spread the flour-sugar mixture over the dough, leaving a 2-inch rim uncovered. Lay the plums over the flour-sugar mixture in an even layer. Sprinkle the plums with 4 to 6 tablespoons of the sugar, depending on the sweetness of the plums.
• Fold the 2-inch edge over the plums, gathering it to fit. Brush the edge of the pastry liberally with water and sprinkle generously with 3 tablespoons sugar.
• Bake until plums are tender and pastry is well browned, with spots where the sugar has caramelized, about 45 minutes. Immediately slide the tart from the pan to a rack. Brush the top of the fruit with some of the juices to glaze it slightly. Allow the tart to cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream.