Baking

Plum & mascarpone tart

This plum and mascarpone tart is rich with wine and liqueur and makes a fitting end to a very special dinner.
PLUM & MASCARPONE TART
20
1H 40M

Ingredients

Method

1.Process flour, ground hazelnuts and icing sugar until just combined. Add butter; process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add combined yolks and the water, pulse until just combined. Divide dough in half, form each into a disc, then wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.
2.Meanwhile, stir wine, sugar and vanilla bean in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Add plums; simmer for 3 minutes or until just tender. Cool.
3.Roll out pastry discs, one at a time, between floured sheets baking paper until 4mm (¼-inch) thick and large enough to line two 24cm (9½-inch) loose- based round fluted tart pans. Lift pastry into pans, ease into base and side; trim edge. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. (Pastry is quite delicate and may need to be chilled after rolling.)
4.Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Place tart pans on oven trays; line pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or rice. Bake 20 minutes. Remove paper and beans; bake a further 10 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Cool. (Swap tart pans between shelves at both stages of baking.)
5.Meanwhile, strain plums, reserving syrup and vanilla bean. Peel plums. Return reserved syrup to frying pan; simmer 20 minutes or until reduced by half. Cool. Return plums to syrup.
6.Place mascarpone, cream, liqueur and sifted extra icing sugar in a large bowl; using a wooden spoon, fold ingredients until combined. Cover; refrigerate.
7.Place tart shells on platters. Spoon mascarpone mixture into each tart, then top with plums and vanilla bean. Drizzle with a little syrup; serve immediately with remaining syrup.

If you place the pastry in the freezer instead of the fridge you can reduce the resting time by half.

Note

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