I have been taking daily walks in our neighborhood during this work from home phase. Boundaries between the "work time" and "home time" have become hazy for so many of us, that it helps to set small rituals to remind you of just that. Our ritual is to go for long evening walks across our neighborhood right after I finish my work and before we start dinner prep.
There are so many things I am noticing about our neighborhood that I never did before! Like there is a beautiful creek and an old style footbridge tucked away merely a mile from us (I had no idea!).. and how many of our neighbors have fruit trees in their front yards - all laden with apricots, plums and lots and lots of apples! The apples are still small and green, but the plums are ripe everywhere.. we often see perfectly good plums lying on the sidewalks fallen from a tree laden with fruit.
As you can imagine, we are over-flowing with plums at our house as well - some given by our young plum tree, a lot shared by generosity of neighbors and our CSA. After enjoying a lot of plums this summer for snacks and deserts, I was left with a bag which was not super sweet and more on the tart-sweet side. What better motivation than make a plum tart then!
This is a very simple recipe and perfect for weeknight deserts too. I used the pie-crust recipe I always user - but you are welcome to use frozen crust too.. works just as well and a huge time-saver!
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
To prepare the filling: thinly slice 5-6 plums. Add 1/2C sugar (or less depending on how sweet the plums are), 1/4tsp cinnamon, 1/4tsp salt, 1/4tsp cardamom powder (optional). Mix well and set aside for 20 minutes. After 20 mins, drain the plum juices but do not discard! Arrange plum slices on the pie crust tightly and fold the edges inward to "seal" the tart. Brush the edges of the crust with melted butter.
Bake for 40 minutes until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling. While the tart is baking, cook the plum juices + 1Tbsp of whatever fruit preserve you have at hand (I used strawberry) until it forms a thick sauce. When the tart is out, brush the sauce on the plums, let it cool completely and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Enjoy!
