French plum tart

For many in France, a plum tart like this is a true taste of childhood. This French plum tart is wonderfully simple and quick to prepare, letting the flavour of sun-ripened plums shine. As they bake, the fruit becomes soft, juicy and almost jam-like. It’s made with classic French shortcrust pastry (pâte brisée), sprinkled with ground almonds to prevent the base from becoming soggy (so there’s no need to blind-bake), and topped generously with firm, deep-purple plums. The result is a light, delicious tart with a gentle tartness. It’s lovely served warm, though it’s worth letting it rest so the juices can thicken slightly before slicing. A perfect dessert for late summer.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry (pâte brisée):

• 190 g plain flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 135 g butter, cold and diced
• 15 g icing sugar
• 40 ml cold water

Sift the flour, add the butter and rub together quickly (or chop with a knife) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, salt and cold water, then quickly bring the dough together (or use a food processor). Shape into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 40 minutes.

Grease and flour a 24 cm tart tin, shaking out any excess flour. Roll out the chilled pastry to about 3 mm thickness and line the tin. Chill again in the fridge for 30 minutes while preparing the filling.

Ingredients for the plum filling:

• 800 g to 1 kg firm plums
• 3 tablespoons ground almonds
• 50 g demerara sugar

Stone the plums and cut into quarters. Remove the pastry from the fridge and sprinkle the base evenly with ground almonds. Arrange the plums on top, cut side up, starting from the outer edge and working towards the centre, slightly overlapping each row. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Bake at 180°C for about 40 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the plums are caramelised. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

Enjoy!