French Style Plum Tarts
July 13th 2008 05:05
The 14th of July is Bastille Day in France, the anniversary of the day the French proletariat stormed the infamous Bastille Prison, murdering the Governor and releasing the prisoners. Widely regarded as the catalyst to the French Revolution, Bastille Day is celebrated wherever French is spoken, and has also become fashionable in the English speaking world.
In the following recipe and step-by-step pictures, I jump on the bandwagon by demonstrating how to make a classic French style tart with plums and ground almonds, or to put it more elegantly, tartelette aux prune et almandine.
Ingredients
6 Tart shells, par-cooked
(See June post)
200g Butter
200g Sugar
4 drops Vanilla essence or vanilla bean paste
4 Eggs
200g Ground almond meal
50g Plain flour
30g Plum jam
2 Whole peeled plums
Method
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.
Add the eggs one by one whilst beating on low speed.
Sieve the almond meal and flour into the mixture and stir them together. Reserve this mixture, known as Frangipane, for later use.
Line the bottom of the partially cooked tart shells with a small amount of jam. If too much is used it will ooze out of the sides during cooking.
Place a dessert spoon of the frangipane in each tart shell and flatten it with the back of a wet spoon. Ensure that the frangipane goes right to the edges or, again, the jam will ooze out of the sides. The frangipane should be slightly concave in the middle as the filling will rise a little when cooked.
Segment the plums and arrange the slices decoratively on top of the frangipane. There is no need to press them down as they will sink into the hot frangipane during cooking.
Bake the completed tarts on a low heat, at approximately 165°c, for about 15 minutes until the frangipane springs back when pressed.
Allow the tarts to partially cool on a wire rack before attempting to remove them from the tart rings.
Serve hot or cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Viva la révolution!
In the following recipe and step-by-step pictures, I jump on the bandwagon by demonstrating how to make a classic French style tart with plums and ground almonds, or to put it more elegantly, tartelette aux prune et almandine.
Ingredients
6 Tart shells, par-cooked
(See June post)
200g Butter
200g Sugar
4 drops Vanilla essence or vanilla bean paste
4 Eggs
200g Ground almond meal
50g Plain flour
30g Plum jam
2 Whole peeled plums
Method
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.
Add the eggs one by one whilst beating on low speed.
Sieve the almond meal and flour into the mixture and stir them together. Reserve this mixture, known as Frangipane, for later use.
Line the bottom of the partially cooked tart shells with a small amount of jam. If too much is used it will ooze out of the sides during cooking.
Place a dessert spoon of the frangipane in each tart shell and flatten it with the back of a wet spoon. Ensure that the frangipane goes right to the edges or, again, the jam will ooze out of the sides. The frangipane should be slightly concave in the middle as the filling will rise a little when cooked.
Segment the plums and arrange the slices decoratively on top of the frangipane. There is no need to press them down as they will sink into the hot frangipane during cooking.
Bake the completed tarts on a low heat, at approximately 165°c, for about 15 minutes until the frangipane springs back when pressed.
Allow the tarts to partially cool on a wire rack before attempting to remove them from the tart rings.
Serve hot or cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Viva la révolution!
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