Almost every single week I get an email request regarding frozen puff pastry. I have almost always been able to find it in the freezers at Santis Delicatessen’s (less than PHP200 for a small package) and sometimes at S&R. I can’t imagine what all you folks are making with it, but it IS a really convenient, “instant” ingredient that is useful for both sweet and savory concoctions. And something I wouldn’t bother to make from scratch in our hot and humid weather. I got some the other week and had it in the freezer when I chanced upon some rather decent ripe plums at the SM grocery fruit department. Plum tarts are a personal favorite, and while you can get a bit more fancy by adding a layer of pastry cream below the fruit, you can also make them plain and serve with some good heavy cream, creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream to jazz it up.
Soften the frozen puff pastry in the fridge for a couple of hours. Remove from the packaging and carefully roll it out to roughly 1/4 inch thickness on a well-floured counter or wooden board. Fold over the edges to create a rim of sorts, this is the rustic approach… Brush the inside bottom of the tart and the edges with a little melted butter. Slice 4-5 large ripe plums thinly and arrange the slices in the puff pastry. Drizzle the fruit with good honey and a sprinkling of white sugar. Bake in a pre-heated oven for some 30-35 minutes until it is puffed and golden and fruit just softened and slightly de-hydrated. Most packages come with baking instructions for simple tarts such as this one. Take this out of the oven and allow it cool and sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Stupendously easy. Ergo, even dodos (birds) could do this. I jest, of course. A wonderful major, major dessert in the looks department but it costs less than PHP300 to make and will easily serve 6. I strongly recommend good heavy cream as the perfect accompaniment. :)
15 Responses
I love puff pastry :) South Supermarket in Alabang also has them.
MM, If you need puff dough, let me know. I make them regularly for my “sweet melissa crisps” and my napoleons and apple galettes for the BTC Sunday market.
Great looking tart! It’s plum season here and there were at least ten different kinds of plums in the market. I made several plum cakes, my ultimate end of summer dessert. Try this:
Plum Cake:
Line a two 8″ round or 10ne 0″ square pan or one 13×9″ rectangular pan with parchment paper
1/2 lb butter softened
1 c. sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp each almond and vanilla flavourings
1 c. each cake and all purpose flur
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. heavy cream or whole milk
Cream butter and sugar and flavourings together for 5 min.
Add eggs one by one and beat well. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat for 1 min. Scrape down sides and beat one more min until smooth.
Spread in pan, it will be less than 1″ thick.
Topping: 1 1/4 lbs firm ripe plums- preferably Italian prune or Fellenberg, or Quetsch but any fresh plum will do
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp. cloves powder
Cut plums in half and pit. Line up on top of batter, close together, do not press down, they will sink somewhat later.
Mix sugar and cloves and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of plums.
Bake in a 325 F oven for 40-45 min until lightly brown on top and toothpick comes out clean.
Cool. Sift 1 tbsp. of confectioners’ sugar over the top.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 8-10 servings.
@Artisan Chocolatier: Do you sell frozen puff pastry dough at BTC?
Hej!
That’s a very attractive plum tart, MM! Seems delish and easy to do. It’s the start of the plum season here although the plums in the market sold at this time are from Spain and France. Am looking forward to some inventive recipes, so thanks for this one.
Sister, your recipe is heaven sent. I’m not so fond of cloves, could I substitute cardamom instead?
Cheers!
Yes, Rowi, cardamon will work very well. Or just leave out the cloves and substitute ground nutmeg or more cinnamon. Sorry about all the typos, it was way past my bedtime.
I meant 1 c each of all purpose and cake flour for a total of 2 c. You might need up to 1 1/2 lbs plums, place plums cut side up lightly on top of batter, they will sink halfway down during baking.
Try making plum ice cream, it’s very tart and refreshing. Simply stew 1 lb of pitted sliced plums with 1/2 c. of sugar until soft. Cool. Add to a 2 qt. recipe of vanilla ice cream base and process. Or just use as sauce over store bought vanilla ice cream or yogurt.
how about dried persimmons, they are great!^^
so the white stuff is sugar? I thought it’s that natural white powder they get when naturally dried and aged for months~
@Bambina: Yes, but only by pre-order.
wow what a MAJOR, MAJORly easy dessert to make. would taste great with chocolate syrup on the side…hehehe..(sorry i just like chocolate with my after-dinner treats)
Hej Sister,
Many thanks for the tips! Cardamom and cinnamon are the favourite baking spices here and I’ve grown to love them. Didn’t notice the quantity discrepancy but the cake flour I thought of. There are no cake flours sold here as far as I know unless I go to an American grocery. I read somewhere that one could make cake flour by mixing APFlour and am wildly guessing cornstarch/baking powder/soda hmmmmn…. help! The flour here seems to be okay even for cakes, so I’ll give it a try if I don’t find a cake flour substitute.
Plum ice cream! Wow! The colour must be wonderful once mixed with vanilla ice cream. I sure would try this too. I like the combination of tart and “plummy sweet” taste.
Cheers!
Thanks for the recipe, Sister! I tried your recipe. It is very addicting…I had a bit of KREMA Greek yogurt left so I added a few tbsps. of it …did not have almond flavouring and too lazy to go out to get some so I added a few tsp. of citrus zests instead….scattered some blueberries on the cake as well as some slices of peaches as well ( had a few fresh peaches left after making peach chutney) ….OK, MM, as you can see I am cleaning out my fruit basket in the fridge! Next time, I will triple the recipe to give to my kapitbahays.
Rowi…for every cup of APF, subtract 2 tbsp. of the apf and replace it with 2 tbsp. cornstarch equals 1 cup cake flour.
Don’t worry about it, just use 2 c. of all purpose flour or substitute as Betty Q suggested.
Thanks Sister and Betty Q for the tips on cake flour substitution. Now I even have a choice.
Betty Q, I would call your version a merry berry fruity clafouti. : )
Cheers!
I just notice when there’s a cake or dessert posting, Sister and BettyQ will always comes out from their hibernation. MM you should always have a caKe or dessert once a week :)
I just notice when there’s a cake or dessert posting, Sister and BettyQ will always comes out from their hibernation. MM you should always have a caKe or dessert once a week :)