Plum lattice tart

The ultimate shortcrust tart, filled with plenty of plums and finished with a classic lattice top. Victoria plums pair beautifully with the warm aromas of orange, cinnamon and cardamom — this is one of those bakes that gently marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn baking. I used my favourite buttery pastry for lattice tarts — the same one you loved in the rhubarb and strawberry tart. This plum tart is wonderfully simple and made with easy-to-find ingredients. Give it a try!

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 300 g plain flour
• 170 g butter, cold and diced
• 100 g icing sugar
• 2 egg yolks (from large eggs)
• a pinch of salt

Sift the flour, add the butter and rub together quickly (or chop with a knife) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolks and salt, then quickly bring the dough together (you can also use a food processor). If the dough is slightly too dry, add 1 tablespoon of cold water. Shape into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Ingredients for the plum filling:

• 1 kg plums
• 80 g sugar
• 30 g potato starch (or cornflour)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• finely grated zest of ½ an orange

Stone the plums and cut into quarters. Just before using, toss with the remaining ingredients.

Additionally:

• 1 tablespoon ground almonds
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
• icing sugar, for dusting

Remove the chilled pastry from the fridge and divide it into two portions, one slightly larger than the other.

Grease and flour a 25 cm tart tin, shaking out any excess flour. Roll out the larger portion of pastry to about 3 mm thickness and line the base and sides of the tin. Sprinkle the base with ground almonds. Fill with the plum mixture and level the surface. Roll out the remaining pastry to about 2 mm thickness and cut into strips approximately 2.5 cm wide. Arrange them over the filling in a lattice pattern, sealing the edges with the pastry base. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg.

Bake at 180°C for about 50 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Enjoy!