Croatian Plum Custard Tart

Mimi

A rich plum brandy soaked fruit filling a shortbread tart, topped with swirls of custard.

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine Croatian, French, Italian

Servings 8 people

In a food processor or in a large mixing bowl, add the cold cubed butter, flour, sugar, and salt and pulse until the texture is coarse crumb aka grains of sand aka "sable."
Add in the egg yolk and at least 1 tbsp of cold water to pulse. Add in more of the cold water if needed and pulse until the dough just comes together.
Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Butter/grease the tart shell tin and when ready, roll out the tart dough to larger than the shell and fold over the top half over the rolling pin. Pick up the dough and place gently in the tart tin. Unfold and remove the rolling pin. Very gingerly press the dough into the bottom and sides of the tart tin. Use your fingers to place dough in all the grooves and pinch the tops of the grooves, leaving a little dough over the top in case the tart shell shrinks. I decided not to blind bake this time since the extra baking time for the custard might lead to a dark crust if also blind baked.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the sliced plums, the sugar, the lemon juice/rind and the cinnamon/cloves. Keep mixing and lower heat if plums catch at all. They will begin to liquify and break down from the sugar. Keep them going for about 10 minutes. You can add the cornstarch once the mixture softens.
After 10 minutes, increase the heat and add the Sljivovica to the plums. Let the liquor boil off for a few minutes, then keep mixing for an additional five minutes on a medium-low heat. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Whisk the egg yolks and heavy cream together for 2-3 minutes, by hand or with a mixer. As said, you can add less plums and more custard (I only use ⅓ of the custard).

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Scoop up the plums from the mixture with a slotted spoon and gently add to the cooled tart shell. Carefully pour the rest of the plum liquid (which should have thickened) around the plums. You can then go in and arrange the plum pieces to your liking. This tart is not as visually pleasing as a fresh fruit tart, so do your best. It has its own special charms. You can sprinkle sliced almonds on top for some additional texture. If you tart shell sides grow too dark, you can cover them with a bit of foil.
Allow the tart to cool completely to set, and enjoy with powdered sugar, ice cream, creme fraiche, whipped cream, or completely naked. The immense plum flavor is brought to life by the Sljivovica and the lemon, perfectly complementing the shortbread like crust. Allow it to transport you to any memory you like, or perhaps it can create a new memory. Here’s to plums and new friends!

Tips

I typically blind bake tart shells, but chose not to for this plum tart, since the tart bakes for a total of 45 minutes and I feared the overly dark tones that come when longer baking times occur. I was very pleased with the result: golden brown bottom!

If you prefer more of a custard tart, you can adjust the amounts of plum filling with custard. I decided I wanted this tart to be 75% plum filling, 25% custard (also because I ran out of room) but you can adjust in any way your tart can see fit (and any way in which it can fit).

You do not want to add the hot plum mixture to the tart shell. Make sure to allow to cool completely to room temperature. The tart base will thank you for it.

I used the only tart shell I own, an 11 inch tin -- I love it, as my mom gave it to me and thus began my love of tart making. However, I love a smaller, deeper tart shell (which I now have), so adjust your baking times accordingly. A deeper shell might take a little longer, but it is well worth the effort.

Keyword dessert, fruit, plum tart, plums, tart