Plum Crumble Tart

You can use any tart dough recipe you like, but I made mine with the sweet tart dough (Pâté Sucrée ) from Dorie Greenspan’s book, PARIS SWEETS as I had it on hand. I include in this post a link for Dorie’s pâte sucrée recipe from Baking Chez Moi that’s available on the internet, as well as a couple of others. Some bakers would at least partially bake this crust; I like it straight from the fridge for this tart. The idea for a crumble on top of a plum tart comes from Ina Garten, and while my tart is different, I include a link to that recipe so you can check it out. I used large Japanese black plums, but should you have the smaller Italian or other European plums, they’ll work fine, too, if you’ll use a few more.

6 servings

Ingredients

Soft butter to butter the tart pan
9- inch cold unbaked tart shell* (If it's too cold to roll, let it sit at room temperature for 10+ minutes until it rolls easily.)
4-5 large black ripe plums, pitted and cut into ¼-inch slices
1-2 teaspoons granulated sugar, less if the plums are sweet/more if plums are tart
Crumble topping - see recipe in note below

Instructions

PREPARATION: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and arrange rack at center. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a paper towel or your fingers, butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. Lay tart shell gently in the pan on the baking sheet, pressing the dough against the bottom and up the sides without stretching. Roll a rolling pin over the top to remove excess dough. Patch any holes or thin spots with a bit of the extra dough, using a finger barely dampened with water to glue the dough together. Place in freezer for 10 minutes.
ADD THE SLICED PLUMS to the tart shell overlapping them just a tiny bit, beginning around the outside and working toward the center in concentric circles. Try to arrange them evenly and attractively. Tuck underneath any small bits that don’t seem to fit. Sprinkle evenly with sugar.
SPRINKLE PLUMS WITH THE CRUMBLE TOPPING (see recipe below) evenly.
BAKE the tart for 35-45 minutes, until it’s lightly golden and bubbly. Check at 10-15 minutes and cover with a sheet of aluminum foil if the pastry is becoming too dark before the plums are tender and the crumble is golden.
COOL ON RACK/SERVE. Unmold, cut, and serve when barely warm or cooled with vanilla or peach ice cream or soft whipped cream. Unlike many tarts, which should be served the day they’re baked if at all possible, this cookie bar-type tart is maybe better the next day. Store wrapped tightly at room temperature for a day or two or in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Do not freeze unless you have no other option.

Notes

*The pastry will need to rolled out to about 11-inches so there's plenty of dough to put into the 9-inch pan with a little extra around the edges that will be trimmed off using the rolling pin. (Roll dough between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper, turning over and stretching plastic/paper so you don't get creases in the dough.)

Crumble Topping

• ½ cup all-purpose unbleached flour

• ¼ cup each: walnuts, brown sugar, and cold butter cut into small pieces

• Pinch of salt

• ¼ teaspoon each: ground cinnamon and ground ginger

• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Mix all the ingredients together until crumbly in a medium bowl using your fingers, an electric mixer, or a pastry cutter. Alternately, pulse briefly in a food processor bowl fitted with the knife blade.