party plum tart recipe

A firmly set tart like this is one of the easiest puddings to transport for a picnic when you are feeding lots of people, and always delicious in summer when plums are at their best.

This tart is best served just warm, but is also excellent cold, with a generous dollop of cream.

for 8-10

• 12 plums, halved and stones removed
• 3 tablespoons Cointreau
• 200g caster sugar, plus 1 tablespoon extra
• 300g unsalted butter, softened
• juice of 1 large lemon
• grated zest of 2 lemons
• 300g blanched whole almonds, coarsely ground
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the pastry

• 300g plain flour
• 200g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 3 egg yolks
• 75g icing sugar
• pinch of salt

Put the plums in a bowl and add the Cointreau and 1 tablespoon caster sugar. Mix and leave to marinate, ideally overnight.

Make the pastry, sift flour and rub in the butter until breadcrumb-like. Add 2 egg yolks, the icing sugar and salt and mix until it comes together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and heat a baking sheet until searing hot.

Line the base of a loose-bottomed 30cm tart tin with baking parchment. Roll out the pastry 3-4mm thick and line the tin, leave the excess over the sides in case it shrinks.

Prick the bottom of the pastry case with a fork, line with greaseproof paper and weigh this down with baking beans or rice. Place on the hot baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and paper and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Brush the pastry case with the remaining egg yolk and bake for 5 more minutes to create a hard base. Cool, then trim off excess pastry. Lower the oven to 150c/gas mark 2 and reheat the baking sheet.

Cream the butter and 200g caster sugar. Add lemon juice and zest, ground almonds and flour and beat. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well. Add the vanilla extract and juice. Spoon this mixture into the pastry case. Push in the halved plums. Bake on the hot baking sheet for 40-50mins, until golden brown. Cover with foil if the top is browning too quickly.

This recipe appears on p.204 of Sarah Raven's Food for Family and Friends Cookbook.