This Italian Plum Ginger Frangipane Tart was prompted by an eye-catching farmers’ market display of stone fruits last week.
The abundant harvest of beautifully ripe peaches, nectarines and plums jolted my realization that these fruits would be available in their prime for only a few weeks, and I needed to move fast if I wanted to use them at their peak flavor. Which fruit to select and what to do with it?
A bumper crop of gorgeous Italian plums looked most appealing and vividly brought to mind the end of summer plum desserts I enjoyed as a child. In those days, as soon as Italian plums appeared each August, our meals often included either Mama’s luscious plum varenyky (ravioli-like dumplings filled with a quarter of a plum and served with sweeten sour cream) or my Aunt Hanna’s various riffs on rich plum kuchens or slab pies or my grandmother’s chilled smooth-as-silk plum soup. These memories were so compelling that I was driven to put this year’s crop of plums to good use.
My husband Weldon also has a sentimental attachment to Italian plums. His maternal grandpa Martin Tayet had a few Italian plum trees along the side of the family home in the McKinley section of Tacoma, Washington. Weldon recalls picking and eating juicy plums from those old trees which produced a sizeable crop each year. Even after family members had their fill of plums, Grandpa Martin could still pick buckets and five year old Weldon accompanied him on sales missions to the local Safeway. Although no Tayet family plum recipes survived, Weldon still looks forward to eating August’s first Italian plums.
And so I bought several pounds of Italian plums, enough to eat as is and also to bake. Rather than replicate childhood recollections, I embarked on assembling a recipe that would reproduce the taste, utilizing the deep sweetness, firm flesh and beautiful color of these plums in new way.
From quick research, I learned that Italian plums (Prunica domestica) are relatives of the peach, nectarine and almond, and remembered that my Aunt Hanna’s plum kuchen often had a distinct and delectable almond flavor, probably from almond extract seasoning.
I decided to create a tart that would have a stronger almond profile. Frangipane, a pastry cream filling made from butter, sugar, eggs, almonds and flour, seemed like it would work well with plums. Yet, I wanted to add a bit of spiciness to the tart as well. Thus, ginger, not the hot, fragrant dried spice used for gingerbread but a mild-tasting juicy ginger rhizome preserved in syrup, seemed like it would add the subtle zing that might pair well with the almond flavored filling and the sweet Italian plums.
I am pleased with the result: this Italian Plum Ginger Frangipane Tart is not only beautiful but also melds the flavors of the plums, almond pastry cream and ginger into a delightful late summer dessert.
Italian Plum Ginger Frangipane Tart
For pastry
1½ cups + 1 tablespoon (200g) all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
4 ounces (100g) cold butter, cubed
pinch of salt
2 ounces (50g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons iced water, plus a few drops more if needed
For frangipane
4 ounces (100g) butter, softened
4 ounces (100g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
5 ounces (140g) finely ground almonds or almond flour
⅔ cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon stem ginger, finely ground plus 3 tablespoons syrup
½ teaspoon almond extract
6-8 Italian plums, stoned and quartered
½ teaspoon potato starch
1 tablespoon sugar
To Serve
2 ounces (50g) sliced almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Crème fraîche or whipped cream, mixed with a few drops of vanilla extract (optional)
To make the pastry, place flour, butter and pinch of salt into a food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add sugar and pulse again. Add vanilla, egg and 1-2 tbsp ice-cold water, and pulse until the dough just comes together.
Empty dough on a floured surface. If dough is still dry in spots, spray dry spots with ice water and test dough for cohesiveness by forming into a disc. Stop adding water when pastry dough comes together and can be shaped into a disc. Roll out pastry, flouring surface as necessary to keep from sticking. Line a 8-9 inch (22cm) loose-bottomed tart tin with pastry, pressing it into sides. Chill for 30 mins.
Meanwhile, prepare frangipane. Using an electric whisk, beat the butter until creamy, then add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Gradually add eggs, beating well after each addition, then stir in almond flour, flour, ginger and 1 tablespoon ginger syrup.
Heat oven to 350°F (180°C) and put in a baking sheet to heat. Spoon frangipane into the tart and smooth.
In a bowl, combine potato starch, 1 tablespoon sugar and plums. Stir to coat plums with starch – sugar mixture and set aside for a five minutes. Arrange plums on tart, pressing into surface. Transfer to baking sheet and bake for 40-50 mins (cover with foil after 30 minutes if the tart is browning too fast) until the fruit is tender and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let tart to cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Heat the remaining ginger syrup in a pan until thickened, and glaze tart. Sprinkle tart with toasted almonds. Serve warm or cold, dusted with confectioner’s sugar, with a dollop of crème fraîche or whipped cream mixed with a little vanilla extract, if you like.
Serves 6-8
* Note: Stem ginger is slices of ginger root preserved in sugar syrup. I could not find it in my grocery store so I made a small batch using the recipe I found on http://www.everynookandcranny.net/simply-stem-ginger/.
One year ago:http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/glazed-lemon-blueberry-bread/
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