Mirabelle plum tart

Mirabelle Plum Tart

Mirabelle plums are a speciality of the Lorraine region of France. They are small, smooth, sweet tasting yellow plums with that characteristic slightly sourm plummy taste. Mirabelle plums are harvested from mid-August so about now is the time to use them. Great for making jams and tarts, like the one below which is from Le Cordon Bleu’s website.

Ingredients

Sweet shortcrust pastry

• 200 g plain flour
• 100 g cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tbsp water

Pastry cream

• 250 ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthwise
• 3 egg yolks
• 60 g sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp cornflour

Garnish

• 300 g mirabelle plums, halved and stoned

Glaze

• 50 g apricot jam
• 1 tbsp water

Method

1. Prepare the sweet shortcrust pastry. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Into a well at the centre of the mix, add the egg and water and mix roughly to combine
2. Roll out the dough into a circle about 3 to 4 mm thick.  Line the tart mold with the dough, refrigerate for at least 20 minutes
3. Preheat the oven to 160°C
4. Blind bake the pastry shell: Cut out a sheet of baking paper that is slightly larger than the tart mold and fit over the dough, fill with baking beans or rice. Gently press down around the edges to ensure that the paper stays in place against the sides of the mold. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and the baking beans (or rice) and continue to bake for approximately 8 minutes
5. Prepare the pastry cream. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the milk, add the pod and bring to the boil. Meanwhile cream the eggs and sugar then add the flour and cornflour. Stir half the milk into the egg mix, then return to the pan and whisk until the cream thickens. [You can use the dried pod to make vanilla sugar by leaving it in a jar of sugar for a few weeks]
6. Garnish: Spread the pastry cream onto the base of the blind-baked pastry shell. Fill with the halved mirabelle plums, arranging them in concentric circles with the cut side uppper-most . Bake for 40 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool. Remove from the tart mold
7. Glaze: Heat the apricot jam and water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, strain and brush over the top of the plums