Plum and mascarpone tart

The best shortcrust pastry, juicy Italian plums and a delicate filling made with mascarpone, sweetened condensed milk and eggs. This plum and mascarpone tart is creamy and almost cheesecake-like, with a velvety filling that is gently sweet and has a lovely hint of lemon. The tart is topped with flaked almonds, which turn beautifully golden during baking and add a little crunch. I highly recommend this recipe.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 200 g plain flour
• 120 g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 large egg yolk
• 30 g icing sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp cold water

Sift the flour, add the butter and quickly chop with a knife until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the egg yolk, sugar, salt and cold water and quickly knead the dough (you can also use a food processor). Shape the dough into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 60 minutes.

Grease a 24 cm tart tin with butter and dust with flour, shaking off any excess.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out, then transfer it to the tin and use it to line the base and sides. Trim and neaten the edges and prick the base all over with a fork. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with ceramic baking beans to weigh it down (you can also use dried beans or rice).

Blind bake at 190°C for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, take out the baking paper and weights, reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 8 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly golden.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 250 g mascarpone
• 300 ml sweetened condensed milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• finely grated zest of ½ organic lemon
• 450 g Italian plums
• a handful of flaked almonds

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Halve the plums and remove the stones.

Place the mascarpone, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, egg yolk and lemon zest in the bowl of a mixer. Mix only until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Arrange the plums over the pre-baked tart, cut side up, then pour the filling over them.

Bake at 180°C for about 35–40 minutes, or until the top of the tart is lightly golden. The filling will puff up during baking, but will sink again as it cools. After 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle the top with the flaked almonds and continue baking. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Enjoy!