Dessert
Plum Frangipane Tart
Topped with seasonal plums glazed in marmalade and served with a clementine crème fraîche, this is the perfect pudding for chilly nights around the table.
Method
- Begin with the pastry. Place the flour, salt and butter in a food processor and blitz until you have a sandy texture. Add the egg and blend again until it comes together as a dough. If it still doesn’t come together into a ball, add a little cold water. Tip out onto a clean surface and bring together into a ball (but be careful to not overwork the dough, as this can result in tough pastry). Flatten the ball into a disc then wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Grease and flour a 23cm fluted tart tin with a removable base. Roll the dough out in between two sheets of baking paper until roughly 5mm thick, then transfer to the tart case, leaving a few centimetres of overhang all the way around. Prick the base with a fork and place back in the fridge for 30 minutes. These resting steps are important to stop the pastry shrinking during cooking.
- Preheat an oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Place a sheet of tin foil in the pastry-lined tart case and mould it to the same shape. Fill with baking beans or dry rice and blind-bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and foil and cook for 5 more minutes, then remove from the oven. Once cooled slightly, use a small serrated knife to carefully carve off the pastry overhang. Set aside to cool.
- To make the frangipane, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, then whisk in the egg. Stir in the ground almonds, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves.
- Halve the plums and remove the stones. Cut each half into thin wedges and set aside.
- Spoon the mixture into the pastry case then arrange the plums slices on top.
- Bake the tart for 35-40 minutes, or until the frangipane is set and a deep golden brown.
- As the tart bakes, mix the marmalade with a squeeze of juice from the orange to create a glaze. Mix the clementine zest into the crème fraiche.
- Brush the tart with the orange glaze whilst it is still warm then leave to cool before serving up with the crème fraiche.
