Plum and Strawberry Tart

I have an unending fascination with plums. I'm not sure if it's because they turn into delicious, endlessly sweet prunes or because with plums, you get a pretty good mix of shockingly sweet and slightly sour fruits. Either way, I love them and it warms my heart when I see them working their way into all the markets. We've been munching on plums for the last couple weeks, but really, I just wanted to make a tart out of them. I think I like the lines of tarts more than I like how pies look. Or maybe I'm just prejudiced against pies. Not sure. Intellectually I realise they're the same thing but I just like tarts better. For this one, I wanted to sweeten the fruit just slightly, and I wanted to incorporate a bit of citrus and vanilla into them. This is the conglomeration of all those varied desires. Hope you enjoy!

1 4"x1" strip orange rind (peel only, no pith)
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (you can add the pod too, but I tossed it in w/ the vanilla extract I'm making; if you want to lower cost, add a tablespoon of extract after the mixture comes off the heat instead)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup water
small pinch salt

pie crust for a 9" tart shell
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 plums
6-7 large strawberries

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine first group of ingredients in a small saucepan. On the lowest heat setting, let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat,stir and cool. While the honey mixture is cooling, line a 9" tart pan with pie crust. Deseed plums and slice. Hull and slice strawberries. Sprinkle cornstarch over the bottom of the pie crust evenly. Line crust with plum slices. On top of plum slices, intersperse strawberry slices with the remaining slices of plum. While straining, pour honey mixture over the fruit and bake 50 minutes or until done. Cool. Serves 8.

Edited to add: I think this would be slightly better if a 1/4 teaspoon of cracked peppercorns were put into the honey mixture while it's cooking.

Comments

  1. Everyday Cookin'10:10 PM

    LOVE IT!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Darius T. Williams10:11 PM

    Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary Bergfeld10:32 AM

    This looks wonderful but I have a question. Now that dried prunes are called plums are they still prunes? I was fascinated by the marketing genius that came up with this strategy to improve the image of prunes. Why after an eternity do something so strange? Sure beats me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Allie12:10 PM

    Darius,

    Thanks!!

    Mary,

    I think they're still prunes, yeah. I've seen some containers that still call them prunes, and some that call them dried plums. I think maybe the marketing ploy didn't take away the image of grandmothers sipping prune juice (or is that just me? Well, I still love them despite that image, or maybe because of it) so they seem to be going back and forth on what to call them.

    It is weird though, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Astra Libris5:35 AM

    Ohhhh, your tart is absolutely gorgeous - a true work of art! I love your addition of vanilla to the fruits!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Allie11:52 PM

    Astra,

    Thanks! I think next time I'll put pepper in too. I almost did, and then I didn't at the last second, but I think it'd make it a little more beautiful tasting. Vanilla really is just lovely though, don't you think?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gems, Lovely Gems

Image
I actually have a bit more homework than I anticipated, so today I just want to tell you guys about gems. It appears that no one really knows what gems are anymore, but back in the 1800s they were a popular, if heavy, treat. So much so, that many pioneers even found room in their wagons to bring a gem pan. By the early 1900s, gems had fallen out of favour and most people just went with muffins. It's a sad, sad thing, really. Traditionally, gem pans were made from cast iron. You can still find beautiful, old cast iron pans on eBay. In fact, aside from scouring antique shops hopefully (and often fruitlessly), eBay is the only place I know that routinely "carries" them. You can find a proper gem pan for as little as US$5, and I've seen them as much as US$300. You just never really know. My advice, however, is to find one that's shallow, made in the mid-1800s (this is when the pans were really in their prime, quality-wise), and in extremely poor condition. I say to fi
Read more

Lentil, Chick Pea and Eggplant Boil

Image
Sorry for the delay. I actually made this days ago, but due to my busy school schedule (yay! The semester is finally almost over!), I didn't have time until now to post it. I always forget about lentils. I always have them in the house, and like them quite a bit, but most of the time, they don't even exist as an option in my head. I don't know why that is. I've been telling P for a while now I wanted to eat more lentils, so finally I just made some. I also decided to take this as an opportunity to use up some spare veggies laying about. Hope you enjoy! 1/2 anise bulb, sliced 1 small onion, cut into rings 1/2 jalepeno, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil salt to taste 1 cup yellow potato, cubed 2 cups cubed and peeled eggplant 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut into quarters 1 cup lentils 3 - 4 1/2 cups water 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon each: clove, cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed 1/2 preserved lemon, diced 1 roma tomato, chopped 1 cup mixe
Read more

Bergamot Curd

Image
As promised, here is the curd recipe. This is perfect for scones, toast, just to eat, or for an unusual twist on the filling typically used in those little fruit tarts. If bergamots are not available to you, you could always use lemon, Seville orange, sweet types of orange (cut the sugar a bit though), lime, pomello, grapefruit or any other citrus. Enjoy! 9 ounces freshly squeezed bergamot juice 2 tablespoons finely grated zest 1 1/2 cups sugar 6 eggs 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 12 tablespoons butter, cut into 1 tablespoon bits Whisk all but butter into a saucepan. Begin to heat over medium low heat and add all the butter. Whisking periodically, cook until the whisk marks stay in the curd. Pack into sterilised jars (or you can just put this in a jar and put it in the fridge, if you don't want to can it) and process 15 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
Read more