Pleasantly plum-filled.

Autumn is here in Sydney. I actually cannot believe that summer flew by so quickly - even though it was definitely not the warmest, sunniest summer I've experienced here. In fact it's been rainy and cloudy a lot!
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The fall is quite lovely and its cooler evenings mean that certain deliciously hearty and pastry-rich items feature back on the house menu.

Given the buckets of plums being showcased in markets at the moment, I thought a plum tart would be great idea for dessert.  Mixing sweet yet tart plums with smooth and nutty marzipan makes for a wonderful tart combination.

Baked until sticky and golden, oozing with almond goodness and encased in a buttery crust - this is definitely dessert time!

plum & marzipan tarts
makes 4 tarts

pastry
175g plain flour
80g butter, cold and cut into pieces
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp caster sugar
1 egg yolk (keep white aside)
1/4 cup cold water (you won't need it all)

filling
5-6 small plums, sliced
50g marzipan, cut into pieces
1/4 cup brown sugar
squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp honey

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
To make the pastry: Sift dry ingredients into a bowl - using hands rub pieces of butter into the flour until mixture resembles sand. Mix in egg yolk and then bring mixture together by adding a bit of cold water (a little at a time) until it forms a ball. Wrap pastry in cling wrap and place in fridge 20-30 minutes.

To make filling: mix plums, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon together. Keep aside.

Take out pastry and with rolling pin roll out until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into appropriate sizes for tart cases (I used 15cm tart cases) and place into case carefully, pushing in all edges. Place into fridge 20 minutes. Take out lined cases, dock pastry and blind bake with beans/rice in oven for 10 minutes. Take out and let cool. Add pieces of marzipan to each case and add plum mixture, top each case with tsp of honey. Bake in oven about 45-50 minutes or until golden and plums are soft. Take out and let cool. Serve with cream or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

A tempting tart

Spring is in the air – it’s sunny and breezy and fresh in Sydney. For the rest of my Northern hemisphere friends,  I know it’s strange to hear of warm weather when snow is on the way for many of you! To celebrate spring I’ve made something filled with colourful vegetables: a spring vegetable tart.

Baked and bruised

Pastry making is an art that I never really had an interest in until I went to cooking school.  It's there that I learned to make different types of pastry – sweet, savoury and the famously scary puff. Of course the perfectionist  in me wanted to do the best job I could. Well, it turns out I can’t make a very good puff pastry – but I find it comforting to know that many great chefs have shared that they can’t either. Thank goodness.