My sister Mirta gave me this fabulous recipe many years ago.
Then I lost it among the thousands of notebooks with recipes to try. I found it last year and, as usual, I slightly modified it to suit my tastes.
The process is slightly longer than a normal tart because the semi-candying take about 12 hours, so you start in the evening and have a perfect tart for lunch. Eaten the next day, it tastes even better. Served with whipped cream, it is a delight that will make your diners happy.
Tart with semi-candied plums and almonds
- Preparation time: 90 minutes+ 12 hours
- Ingredients for 6-8 servings
- Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe
- Ingredients
- For the pastry:
- 2 cups (230 g) of all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (25 g) of almond flour
- 1 stick/1 tablespoon (125 g) of butter
- ½ cup (70 g) of powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- Grated lemon zest
- A pinch of salt
- For the stuffing:
- 6 very firm red plums
- 1 cup (300 g) of sugar
- 1 ¼ cup (300 ml) of water
- ¼ cup (60 ml) glucose or honey
- For the almond mixture:
- 1 cup (120 g) of almond flour
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 3 yolks
- Sliced almonds to taste
- Instructions
- The night before, prepare the pastry and semi-candied plums.
- In a bowl, beat the butter with the powdered sugar. Add the egg and then the flour, salt, and lemon zest. Mix quickly. Wrap the dough with cellophane and put it to rest in the refrigerator.
- Prepare the plums. Wash them well and divide them in half by removing the core.
- Put the sugar and water in a saucepan, dissolve the sugar well, and then add the glucose and bring to the boil; add the plums and boil them for another three minutes in the syrup. Let it cool down. Leave the plums well-immersed in the syrup overnight.
- The next day, put the pastry dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll it out. Leave it in the refrigerator for about ten minutes to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Place the pastry dough in a greased and floured pan. Prick the base with a fork and cover with parchment paper and beans.
- Bake for about ten minutes. Remove the parchment paper with the beans and cook the pastry for another ten minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the almond biscuit. Beat the egg whites firmly; add the sugar, egg yolks, and then the almond flour, stirring gently with a spatula.
- Remove the tart from the oven and place almost all the plums on the bottom, then the almond biscuit, then the remaining prunes (divided into wedges), and finally the almond slices.
- Bake in the oven for another twenty-five minutes or so.
- While the cake is cooking, reduce the syrup where you have made the semi-candied plums over the heat, boiling it over a high flame for at least thirty minutes.
- Serve warm with whipped cream and some hot syrup or, if it’s very hot, with vanilla ice cream.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- Almond flour costs a lot. For this reason, I often use a mixer where I put the almonds in with a spoonful of sugar and blend everything. The flour obtained is a little coarser, but for this type of preparation, it’s fine.
- The plums must be very firm, otherwise they cannot be pitted well.
- The baking of the pastry is done by covering it with a sheet of parchment paper and putting dried beans or ceramic balls on top, so that they prevent the pastry from swelling during cooking.
- The timing of cooking in the oven is indicative because each oven cooks differently. The pastry should not darken too much.
