I have to be careful when plum season comes along, usually toward late summer. If I blink, I might miss it.
This year I almost did. A mild winter has brought plums to Southern California where I live almost a month earlier than usual. But we’re still in the peak of season right now, and plums will linger into early autumn.
That means the time is ripe to make the most of plums. Which is easy to do, considering the delightful variety available in food stores everywhere, plums with romantic names like Queen Rosa, Greengage, Damson, Black Amber or Elephant Heart, or that old standby Santa Rosa.
Good plum growers aim to pick the fruit when it’s ripe, because the fruit’s sugar levels stop rising once it leaves the tree. That means that the best way to make sure your plums are sweet is to taste them, which you’ll have the best opportunity to do at a farmers market stall where sample slices are usually there for the taking. In general, the plums you buy should feel heavy for their size, and should give to light fingertip pressure.
At home, store them in the refrigerator, where they should keep for several days. If they are still slightly hard, however, you can soften them by leaving them in a paper bag at room temperature for a day or two.
Though plums are wonderful eaten out of hand, one of my favorite ways to enjoy them is as a tart filling. Before you shy away from the thought of baking, in summer or at any time, let me tell you that the recipe that follows is one of the easiest and most enjoyable pastries you’ll ever make. You don’t even need to make the very easy-to-prepare sugar dough I call for; 1 1/2 pounds of store-bought frozen pastry will do fine.
No need to line a pie shell or form a top crust either; just lay out the dough on a baking sheet, add the filling, turn up the rim, and bake. Though my recipe describes the tart as more or less circular, the shape is not even important: Everything will look beautiful and taste delicious whether your tart is oval, square, rectangular or resembling an amoeba. Cut it into wedges, top with vanilla ice cream if you like, and dessert is ready.
Easy free-form plum tart
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour
Yield: 10 servings
Sugar dough:
2 1/3 cups cake flour or pastry flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
2 egg yolks
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
Tart filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 large ripe plums, halved, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon plum brandy, optional
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
1. For the dough, combine flour, sugar and butter in a food processor; pulse until the texture resembles fine meal. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of the cream in a small bowl. Scrape egg mixture into the processor; process until a ball begins to form, drizzling in the additional tablespoon of cream, if necessary, to help the dough come together. Remove dough; press down into a circle on a lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator; unwrap it. Roll out on the floured surface to form a circle 14 inches in diameter. Transfer dough to a nonstick baking sheet; place in the refrigerator.
4. For filling, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the plums; cook just until they begin to soften slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice. Remove from the heat; drizzle in the plum brandy, if desired. Set aside.
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator; spread the cooled plums evenly in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border around the edge. Fold the edge up over the plums, leaving the fruit in the center exposed.
6. Brush the exposed rim of dough with the egg. Bake until the crust is evenly golden brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven; sift confectioners’ sugar over the tart while still warm. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition information per serving:
397 calories, 51% of calories from fat, 23 g fat, 14 g saturated fat, 118 mg cholesterol, 44 g carbohydrates, 4 g protein, 13 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
