This plum tart recipe features Kirsch, which is used in a lot of French fruit tart recipes. Kirsch also features in some Swiss fondue recipes, cocktails and various dessert recipes. Unlike cherry liqueur or cherry brandy, Kirsch (or kirschwasser as it is also known) is not sweet. It has a slight bitter almond flavor, as well as a subtle cherry taste. If you do not want to use Kirsch in this plum tart recipe, you can simply leave it out. You can use a good quality store-bought pastry for the crust or you could make your own if you prefer.
Choose your favorite plums for this plum tart recipe. Plums are native to America, Asia, and Europe. Most plums in the United States are the red or yellow Japanese varieties. European plums are purple or blue. Quetsche are big, oval plums with yellow flesh and dark purple skin. Mirabelle plums are small, orange, or yellow, and have orange-yellow flesh, and Reine Claude are round, firm, sweet and green. You can use any of these varieties. The plums you choose should be ripe but not too squishy or soft.
This open-faced plum tart is very simple to make. First of all you need to make the plum filling and then you need to bake it. Make this plum tart in advance because it is best served cold and you need to give it enough chilling time. If you fancy doing something a bit different, you can try making this with peaches, nectarines or a combination of these with plums.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Kirsch
- 2 lbs plums
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1 uncooked pie shell
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Fit the pie shell into a 10 inch tart pan and use a fork to prick the bottom a few times.
- Wash the plums and halve them. Remove the pits.
- Put them skin side up in the tart shell and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the sugar over them.
- Beat the remaining sugar with the egg.
- Stir in the flour and mix well.
- Stir in the butter, Kirsch, and milk.
- Pour this mixture over the plums.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Let the plum tart cool completely and serve cold.
Plum tart is a typical French dessert and, although many tart recipes are served hot or warm, this one is particularly nice served cold. You can serve some custard, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or simply serve this plum tart recipe as it is. This makes a lovely mid-afternoon snack with a cold drink, or a great dessert after any kind of entree. You can buy readymade plum tarts but you could never find one as fresh-tasting and delicious as this easy plum tart recipe. You can see how juicy and flavorful it looks in the picture.
