french plum tart

Here we mostly eat fruit in season locally.  Better flavour, more eco-friendly and it's another way of enjoying the change of seasons.

In normandy we are now in the season for the smallish purple blue plums called Quetsches.  They are nice eaten off the tree, but to my mind they are best in a tart.  Some like the tart with a cream base on the pastry, I prefer the simplest way, just pastry, sugar and the fruit.

Individually for dinner parties, large and round for family meals, or long and chic for special moments, this recipe is quick and easy and sure to please.

To make the perfect tarte aux quetsches, simply roll out your favourite pastry and fit to whichever mould you choose to use.   Cover with baking or waxed paper, and weigh the paper down with baking beans, then pop in to the oven to bake blind, or pre-bake for about 15 minutes.  Remove the paper and bake for a further 5 minutes until the base is very slightly golden.

While the pastry is cooking, cut the plums in half and remove the stones.  You need enough plums to cover the pastry in a generous layer of fruit.

Remove the pastry base form the oven and sprinkle with sugar.  Some people add a little ground almond at this stage.   Lay the plums carefully overlapping the fruit pieces.  Sprinkle with more sugar.

Bake in a hot oven, around 190° until the pastry is well cooked and the fruit is well tender, and looks slightly shrivelled.

 A Quetsche plum tart is a favourite dessert here, served just warm with a pouring of creme anglaise.  Yummy!