Everyday Fruit Tart

Dear Michelle,

That granola looks great! I went through a granola making craze last winter- my favorite was this, but with chocolate chips mixed in at the end. I can never resist the temptation to add chocolate. I saw another recipe recently that added pumpkin seeds, which also sounds really good to me. I bet crisped rice would be good too. Mmm, now I want to make some granola.

A couple of nights ago, for no reason in particular, I decided to make a tart for dessert. We didn't get to eat it after dinner, as I'd started it too late (oops), but I had a weekend-worthy breakfast the next morning; if anything can make waking up bearable, it's plum tart with a cup of steaming tea. The plums melted down to a jam-like consistency and the juices mixed with the sugar to create a red glaze that filled in all the gaps, but the crust stole the show. This was the most tender, flaky, and buttery crust I have ever had.


You know I use Julia Child's sweet short paste recipe (Mastering the Art of French Cooking I, pg 633) almost exclusively for tart and pie crusts, and I did this time as well, but with a slight change--I used cake flour instead of the standard all-purpose. I don't know why I never thought of it before. That soft wheat really makes a difference! There was not even the slightest hint of toughness. This crust is strong enough to hold a filling, but shatters to buttery deliciousness when bitten. I used the same weight of cake flour as was listed for the all-purpose, but if you must measure with volume, 1 cup all purpose = 1 cup 2T cake flour.

Julia's Sweet Short Paste, slightly altered, for one 10-11 inch crust.

7 oz or 2 cups, 4T cake flour (2 cups all-purpose)
2 T granulated sugar
1/4 t salt
11 T COLD butter (Julia calls for 8T butter and 3T shortening, but I always used all butter, due to lack of shortening in my fridge. Also, I think it's gross)
5-6 T cold water

Place flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add butter, cut into 1T pieces. I find it easiest to start off with a pastry cutter, just to break the pieces up a little, then start cutting the butter into the flour with your fingers until it is in small flakes, about the size of oatmeal flakes. Work quickly so the butter does not become too soft or create a paste with the flour. Add water and mix just till a dough forms. Julia calls for a smear with the heel of the hand to further blend the butter and flour, but I omitted (forgot) and it turned out fine. Let rest in fridge for at least a half hour.

For major parental brownie points, make double recipes and leave individually wrapped in the freezer. My mother loves it when I do that.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Let dough warm a few minutes until pliant, and roll out to fit tart shell. I rolled this dough very thin, a little less than 1/8 inch. Prick all over with a fork, line with foil and fill with weights. Put in the oven for 5-6 minutes till dough is set, then remove foil and weights and return to oven till slightly golden, about 10 minutes more.

For the tart:

9-10 inch tart pan
4-5 empress or prune plums (substitute almost any fruit here; apricots, peaches, apple, etc.)
4-5T granulated sugar
2T butter, cut into about 8 pieces

Turn oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle 1-2T sugar on crust. Slice plums into eighths, and arrange radiating from middle to the outside in circles. It is ok if there are a few gaps; with such a thin crust it is nice not to have too much fruit, and the sugar and the plum juice fills them with a pretty red syrup. Sprinkle with an additional 2T sugar, more if you like desserts sweeter or the fruit is very tart. Dot with butter, and set in oven. Cook 30-45 minutes until crust is deep golden and fruit is very soft. May be eaten warm or cold. Jeff ate his with whipped cream, or it would certainly also be good with vanilla ice cream, or creme fraiche.

For leftover dough: either freeze, if you have enough, or try wrapping around peeled, cored apple slices (1/8 apple) that have been tossed in cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla; the apples shrink a little, leaving you with a shattering cage of pastry, filled with soft apple. Delicious! These would be perfect deserts for a cocktail party.