plum tart

Would you believe that these have been sitting in my "drafts" folder for a full year? Well, they have. I had a difficult dilemma when September of last year rolled around with me having shared this recipe. I could post them in October or November, but plums would be long past their prime, and either hard to find or unimpressive in most grocery stores or farmer's markets. Or I could hang onto this delicious recipe for nearly a year, waiting for plum season to roll around again.

I know that many of you are partial to free-form galettes, but to me, there is something so beautiful about a tart where every slice of fruit has been specifically placed -- maybe they're a little fussy, but they're so lovely to look at that I don't mind. You can bet that this tart will wow -- while a galette might be forced to rely merely on taste.

So if you're looking for a way to use up a batch of plums from your CSA or backyard tree (hey, a girl can dream...), make this. And make it this year, because stone fruits will be gone soon, and you wouldn't wait to have to wait another year to enjoy this delicious dessert.

Plum Tart Recipe

For crust:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

1 large egg

2 tbsp water

For the filling:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp white wine or champagne

4 red plums, pitted and sliced into wedges

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, wine and plums and gently toss to coat evenly. Cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place flour, sugar, salt, butter, one egg, and water in a food processor. Pulse until blended into one large ball of dough. Roll dough out on a floured surface, into an approximately 12? circle. Press the dough into the individual 3-inch tart pans so it fits into all the edges, particularly on the sides. Trim the excess dough from the edges of the pans (should create at least four individual tarts). Refrigerate the tart dough for 10 minutes.

Remove the tart from the refridgerator, and line the inside of the tart with aluminum foil. Place pie weights (or dried beans, or rice) in the foil. Bake for 20 minutes (the tart is easier to bake if you place the tart shell on a cookie sheet).

Remove the tart from the oven and remove the foil and pie weights. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Arrange the plum slices in a flower pattern in each tart shell and bake the completed tarts for 10 minutes, or until the plum juices are starting to bubble. Allow to cool, and serve.

Makes four individual tarts.