Marzipan plum tart

There are some flavour combinations that never seem to lose their appeal. One of my favourites is plums paired with Amaretto, almonds and marzipan. This marzipan plum tart is a real delight if, like me, you love these flavours. An almond pastry is filled with a light, perfectly balanced marzipan filling and topped with juicy plums that provide the perfect finishing touch. Highly recommended!

Ingredients for the almond shortcrust pastry:

• 150 g plain flour
• 50 g ground almonds
• 100 g cold butter, diced
• 1 large egg
• 30 g icing sugar
• a pinch of salt

Sift the flour and ground almonds into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in (or cut it in with a knife) until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg, icing sugar and salt, then quickly bring the dough together. Alternatively, prepare the pastry in a food processor. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap it in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Grease and lightly flour a 25 cm tart tin, shaking out any excess flour. Roll out the chilled pastry to about 3 mm thick and use it to line the tin. Chill again for 30 minutes. Lightly dust the pastry with a little flour, line it with baking paper, then fill with baking beans or dried beans or rice.

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Reduce the temperature to 200°C and blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper and baking beans, return the pastry case to the oven and bake for a further 5–7 minutes, until the base is lightly golden.

Ingredients for the marzipan filling:

• 200 g marzipan (I used golden marzipan)
• 2 large eggs
• 90 g butter
• 30 g icing sugar
• ½ teaspoon almond extract or ¼ teaspoon almond flavouring
• 3 tablespoons plain flour

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place all the filling ingredients into a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Alternatively, use a hand blender.

Ingredients for the topping:

• 400 g plums
• a handful of flaked almonds, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan

Pour the marzipan filling into the hot, partially baked pastry case. Arrange the plums on top, pressing them gently into the filling with the cut sides facing upwards.

Reduce the oven temperature to 175°C and bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the filling is set, lightly risen and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with the toasted flaked almonds before serving.

This tart does not need to be stored in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!