Shortbread Plum Tart With Honey and Cinnamon

Shortbread Plum Tart With Honey and Cinnamon
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
1½ hours
Rating
4(415)
Comments
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Based on a classic gâteau Breton, this buttery tart is filled with a fresh plum compote flavored with honey, rosemary and cinnamon instead of the usual puréed prunes. You can make the compote and dough a few days ahead, but this tart is best served within 24 hours of baking. After that, the center starts to turn mushy from the moisture released by the fruit. Serve it on its own, or with a dollop of whipped cream.

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Ingredients

Yield:12 servings
  • 1cup/200 grams plus 1 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2⅓cups/290 grams all-purpose flour
  • ¾teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 8ounces/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), diced, plus more for greasing pan
  • 1large egg
  • 5large egg yolks
  • 4large plums, halved, pitted, and sliced ¼-inch thick (about 2¼ cups)
  • 2tablespoons full-flavored honey such as wildflower
  • 1cinnamon stick
  • 1small sprig rosemary (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

353 calories; 18 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 25 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 61 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a food processor, process 1 cup sugar until powdery and fine, about 1 minute. Add flour, cinnamon and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add egg and 4 egg yolks, and pulse until mixture comes together. Divide dough in half, form into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours or until firm.

  2. Step 2

    In a small saucepan, combine plums, 1 to 3 tablespoons sugar (this depends on how sweet your plums are), cinnamon, honey and rosemary sprig, if using. Simmer until jammy and thick, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer plum mixture to a bowl to cool, and remove cinnamon stick and rosemary sprig. Taste and stir in more sugar if mixture seems very tart.

  3. Step 3

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch springform pan and place it on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any butter leaks.

  4. Step 4

    Between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll one of the dough halves into an 8-inch circle. Transfer dough to prepared cake pan, pressing into edges. Spoon plum compote on top of dough, leaving ¾-inch border around edge.

  5. Step 5

    Roll second piece of dough into an 8-inch circle, transfer to pan, press around outside edge to stick the pieces together and seal in fruit.

  6. Step 6

    In a small bowl, combine remaining egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water and beat lightly. Brush over top of cake, then use a fork to score a crisscross pattern into the dough. Bake until golden brown, 1 hour (cover with foil if cake is browning too quickly). Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then run a butter knife around the inside edge of the pan and unmold from ring. Cool completely and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
415 user ratings
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Comments

How can it be that you only need FOUR plums for this? What size could the plums be to have that yield two and a half cups? That must be a mistake.

Delicious. Definitely make sure you use an 8-inch spring loaded pan and not a 9-inch, or that you add an additional 1/2 of the shortbread recipe if you use a 9-inch. Also, I simmered the compote over medium heat for approx 30 min as instructed and it still didn’t get “Think and jammy,” so it ended up a bit runny — might need a bit more time.

Can this recipe be made ahead and frozen.

Any thoughts about the alternative spices Melissa Clark suggests: ginger; lemon thyme; rosemary sprig? What about a lemon verbena sprig added to the plums (and then fished out after simmering)? And if lemon verbena is added, does it play well with cinnamon? with rosemary? with ginger? Or should any or all of those be left out? --All seem like great variations; I'm just not sure how they do or don't combine.

I didn't have trouble with the jam like some of the reviews, but the dough is *very* difficult to work with. I let it sit in the fridge overnight, rolled it out cold, dusted the parchment with flour, put the bottom layer in with the parchment still attached, and then had to patchwork the sticky top layer on. Also worth noting, I used a 10 inch springform pan and still thought the dough layers were too thick. There was a lot more dough and less jam than the picture shows.

I baked for 68 minutes, and although the tart looked gorgeous on the outside, it did seem mushy/undone for about 1/4" thickness of the dough touching the filling. My dough had just come out of the fridge so maybe I should have let it come to room temperature? I think I will make this again, and I am going to try the same thing in a 9" pan as I am starting to wonder if the 8" pan instructions were in error. My crust looks a lot thicker than the picture.

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