Plum Almond Tart

Recipe from Alex Levin

Adapted by Joan Nathan

Plum Almond Tart — Gabriela Herman for The New York Times

Total Time: 1½ hours, plus chilling and cooling
Rating: 4(262)
Notes: Read community notes

This beautiful plum tart, adapted from the pastry chef Alex Levin of Osteria Morini in Washington, brings together a sablé butter crust flavored with vanilla bean; colorful, juicy plum slices; and an almond cream filling with a lovely flavor that complements the fruit. Using confectioners' sugar in the crust gives you a texture that is finer and smoother than if you use granulated sugar. And the sugar in the crust and filling removes the need to sweeten the plums (which in turn means the fruit juices won't leach into the dough) — though you'll want to sprinkle a little turbinado sugar over the top for added crunch. —Joan Nathan

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

For the Vanilla Bean Sablé Crust

½cup/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick) or ½ cup solid coconut oil, at room temperature
¾cup/94 grams confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt
1vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1large egg
1½cups/187 grams all-purpose flour

For the Almond Filling and Plum Topping

¾cup/120 grams blanched almonds
2tablespoons all-purpose flour
½cup/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick) or coconut oil at room temperature
1cup/120 grams confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt
1large egg plus 1 egg yolk
About 1½ pounds/680 grams Italian plums or other flavorful, colorful plums
A few pinches of turbinado or other textured raw sugar

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Make the crust: Combine butter or oil, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla bean seeds in a stand mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute more. Scrape down sides of bowl, add the egg and then the flour, and continue mixing until smooth. Remove dough from the bowl, wrap in plastic and refrigerate, about 1 hour, or until firm.
Step 2
Make the almond filling: Grind together the blanched almonds and flour in a food processor until they form a textured almond flour.
Step 3
Combine butter or oil, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a stand mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute more. Scrape down sides of bowl, add egg and egg yolk, and continue mixing until mixture comes together and is homogeneous, about 2 minutes. Add almond mixture all at once, and mix until batter just comes together. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
Step 4
Remove dough from refrigerator and set aside for 10 minutes. Knead dough to loosen it, then pat together into a ball again. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough into a 12- to 13-inch round using a floured rolling pin. Quickly transfer dough to an 11-inch pie plate or tart shell, trimming the edges as needed. Place the lined shell in the freezer until frozen.
Step 5
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove shell from the freezer, line with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake crust for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to color. Remove the weights and bake 5 minutes longer. Cool completely.
Step 6
While the crust cools, cut plums into ¼-inch wedges.
Step 7
Using an offset spatula, spread cooled tart shell with the almond cream. Starting at the outside of the pan, arrange plums in a circle on top so all the pieces overlap. Turn plums the opposite way for the second circle. Fill the center with the remaining plums or another fruit if you wish.
Step 8
Sprinkle a few pinches of turbinado sugar over plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until almond cream is puffed and golden brown and the plums are softened.

Ratings

4 out of 5

262 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Donna K6 years ago

I wonder could you substitute a finely ground almond flour in place of grinding the flour and almonds . For those of use who are GF this might be easier .

Steve6 years ago

I've used a very similar recipe with pears, poached for about 10 mins in syrup, and then sliced into crescents. Added 2 tsp of pure almond extract to the almond filling.

nyc-cook6 years ago

This recipe is a unique combination of textures and flavors and makes for a beautiful tart! The almond cream baked to an almost cake-like texture-- I recommend adding a bit of almond and vanilla extracts to boost and deepen the flavor.

I chose to cut sugar by half in both the crust and the cream and still had excellent results!

I baked it for a dinner party and it was both delicious and beautiful.

WK6 years ago

I measured 3/4 cup of blanched almonds and weighed them. They came to 70 g instead of 120 g? This seems to large a discrepancy so will proceed to cook with the 3/4 cup measure. Can anyone comment? Thanks!

DP5 years ago

This got rave reviews from my family on Rosh Hashanah. A couple notes: —For a recipe this heavy in butter, it's worth seeking out a cultured butter, which lends greater depth to the flavor. —Added .25 tsp of almond extract to the almond cream filling, but will dial it up even further next time. —If you can't find vanilla bean, or don't want to shell out for it, 1 tsp vanilla extra works nicely.

A Wu6 years ago

This is a wonderful recipe! The tart shell was crispy and fragrant; the filling was beautiful.
My tart took about 60 minutes to bake.
I put some lemon zest in the almond filling as well.

Rave Reviews5 years ago

I had blanched almond flour on hand, so I used that for the almond cream. I also added a bit of almond extract to the cream. My family was texting me at work the next day exclaiming how delicious it was.

Jennifer5 years ago

I made this last night with some of our plums my Mum froze after a huge crop this year. When I can back from work today 90% had vanished! A beautiful tart well worth the effort.

TeleSkier235 months ago

Pretty epic fail. All the flavors were great, but the crust fell apart before I ever filled it and the plums sank into the filling, so it just looked like goo. The texture was also not palatable. In fairness, this could all be due to human error on my part, but that doesn’t assuage my disappointment. This strikes me as a recipe that takes a few tries before you really get it right.

shut in6 months ago

This was bland, wouldn’t make again.

Aliza W8 months ago

This is great! I needed a sophisticated dairy free dessert. I was lazy and just used ground almond + flour and I don't think I would have been able to tell the difference. I wasn't a perfectionist about the rolling of the dough, it seemed to fall apart whatever I did so I just pressed it into the dish. Made it a second time today, perhaps next time I will swap plums for pears.

deborah9 months ago

If you use the small Italian prune plums, 1 pound is plenty.

Nadine1 year ago

This is a lovely looking tart-cake-pie, which is what everyone at dinner when I served it started calling it. Smells delicious too! Just a shame the taste is a little lacklustre. I followed directions of the recipe and other commenters who suggested adding almond extract, which I did. I also had to bake mine longer than the recipe suggested, about 20 mins extra. Just came out bland. Still edible, just not the "wow!" I was hoping for.

Amy S2 years ago

This was spectacular - my guests loved it. I loved it. Worth the time and effort. Be careful not to roll the dough out too thin and to cover the edges to make sure they don’t burn. A winner!

Jen2 years ago

I used a 10" pie pan thinking it wouldn't make much difference, but the top edges of the crust got really dark before the middle was fully set, so the end result was kind of sloppy. Lesson learned. The part that DID fully set was delicious. I also needed only about half the fruit stated in the recipe.

Travis3 years ago

I assume Big Plum pushed for the absurd overstatement of how much fruit you need--you need maybe half. I put in about 1 lb and the tart still ended up with so much mass and moisture that I burned the crust before the filling set. The filling is also unpleasantly grainy because of the ground almonds. Kind of a disappointing recipe for 2+ hours investment. Crust is tasty though :)

carol3 years ago

How much almond flour is the right substitution?

Ariel3 years ago

This was great! I found I needed to bake both the crust longer, as well as the final tart longer than the time in the recipe. I didn't have a vanilla bean, so instead I added 1 tbsp of vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of almond extract to the crust. It turned out great.

dvorab4 years ago

I made it with my own pastry crust, so I can’t comment on that. The almond filling is much too sweet and the plums, even topped with sugar, too tart. I would adjust to bring the tastes into balance.

Dina Janzen4 years ago

Could I bake the crust and or the almond filling the day before?

ansohoho4 years ago

Probably the best tart I ever made in my life... Tastes so good and looks so pretty! As suggested in comments I added a few drops of almond extract.

WK4 years ago

Per suggestions in comments, made this with almond flour & 2 tsp almond extract. My Mirabelle plums were very ripe, juicy, so used 2 eggs in the filling. No turbinado sugar so substituted a tbsp of vanilla sugar over the top. A 10" diam x 2" h tart tin. Came out perfectly, w/ lovely almond perfume as it baked & cooled. Will definitely try w/ our Seckel pears when they ripen!

Priscilla4 years ago

The "almond cream" is rather tasteless. If I make this again I would add either almond or vanilla extract.

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