Plum Tart (French Tartes aux Mirabelle)

This Mirabelle plum tart is a typical September dessert in France. The end of Summer is an amazing time, the apples, the quinces, the plums are ready to be picked up. The veggie patch is booming. Often, there is an Indian Summer and people spend time together chatting while picking fruits, pealing, baking, preparing precious preserves for the colder seasons. You can substitute mirabelles with any stone fruit that you favour.

Pastry:
1 egg
cold butter, cubed (120 g)
all-purpose flour, unbleached (250 g)
1 Tbsp. caster sugar (12 g)
pinch kosher salt
4 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. brown or raw sugar for the top of the crust
4 Tbsp. any sugar for the Mirabelles

Cream:
3 eggs
milk (100 mL)
water (100 mL)
cornflour (35 g)
sugar (80 g)
butter (20 g)
1 Tbsp. dark rum or brandy

Fruits:
Mirabelles plums

For the Pastry:
In a bowl put the flour and the cold butter cut in cubes. Add the sugar and the pinch of salt.

With your hands, rub the ingredients between your palms until you get a sandy texture.

Add the water and the egg. With the tip of your fingers, work the dough to make a ball but do not overwork it. If you keep it a bit crumbly not to play-dohy. If it is too "worked" it will be too hard when cooked.

Wrap the ball in plastic film or put it in a zipped plastic bag. Put it in the fridge for at least 50 minutes.

You can freeze it at this stage too or keep it for up to 2 days in the fridge.

For the Cream:
Pour the water and milk in a pan with a spoon of pure vanilla extract. Bring it to the boil and take it off the heat. Put it aside for a few minutes with a lid to infuse the vanilla. If you want a very intense vanilla flavour, make your milk mix 1 day in advance and let is rest 24 hours in the fridge with a lid on.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks with sugar until light yellow and creamy. Add the corn flour. Whisk.

If your milk mix has been waiting with it's lid on, reheat it until it simmers.

Pour the milk mix in the bowl with the egg mix very slowly starting with a few drops which you will mix very energetically. Pour more and more, whisk fast until you have poured all of the liquid.

Put everything back in the pan. Bring to the boil while whisking vigorously to avoid the cream sticking at the bottom of the pan and burning.

It will start to thicken very quickly. When it's reached a thick custard feel, take it off the heat. Pour the content in a bowl and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

When you feel with your finger that it has reached a warmish stage but is not too hot any more, add the butter. Whisk it to melt it (the butter needs to melt, so don't let it cool too much) it will make the cream silky smooth.

With a spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl clean and arrange the cream to be flat in the bowl. Place some plastic film over it, touching the cream all over. It will avoid a skin forming on top. Put it in the fridge until cold.

Preheat oven at 180°C (356°F).

Assembly:
Take your ball of dough out of the fridge. Place baking paper (parchment) on your workspace longer than the size of the circle of pastry you want to achieve. Cut another piece of parchment the same size. Put your dough in the middle of the first sheet, place the second on top and with a rolling pin, flatten the dough to 0.16 to 0.2" (4-5 mm) thick in a circle.

Place the flat pastry in the mold. With a fork, prick the dough all over, leaving no large space untouched to prevent the pastry from raising.

Spread a spoon of raw or brown sugar on it. You can either put the second piece of baking paper (parchment) on top and press against the side of the mold, putting beans or clay beads to keep it in place.

Bake the "empty" crust until very lightly golden.

Take the cream bowl out of the fridge. Pour rum in the bottle's cap. and then pour it on the cream. Whisk it very well to give it a smooth aspect (the cream looks a bit hard when it comes out of the fridge). Spread the cream on the crust.

Place the Mirabelles, sprinkle a bit of sugar on top and put in the oven for another 20 minutes.

Leave it to cool. Place the pastry on a nice serving plate.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Cook's Notes: You can chose another alcohol such as Kirsch or Whisky or Cognac. You can also leave it as is, the vanilla flavour is delicious. Rum adds the French touch though.

In the case of fresh berries or canned fruits, no need to cook the fruits, just spread the cream, add the fruits, and that's it. If you are after a fancy finish on fresh berries. Take a few big spoons of strawberry jelly (jam that has no fruit bits in it, only jellified fruit juice). Melt it in a pan and spread it for a shiny "pâtisserie" finish on the fruits with a pastry brush.