This month, Martha featured a very summery plum puff pastry tart and I thought it would be a perfect way to get back into the swing of things. Or so I thought.
Martha requires 10 plums for this recipe. I know, right!? It seemed like an awful lot to me too. While I'm not sure exactly how much 10 plums weigh, I do know they're not light. Martha paired the recipe with puffed pasty - about as light and airy as pastry gets. And here, my friends, is where the problem lies. The puff pastry simply can't support the weight of the plums. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Martha has you toast almonds, grind them in a food processor and sprinkle them, mixed with sugar, on the pastry. But you can't taste them. And by that, I mean you can't taste them at all. As you know, I don't like doing unnecessary work.
And then there were the 10 plums. Ben ate plum slices. Benjamin ate plum slices (ok, spitting them out doesn't really qualify as eating them...). And I ate plum slices.
I still couldn't squeeze all the remaining slices the 10 plums generated on the puff pastry. So we ate some more plum slices.
AND then there was the jam. There was no way I could have used Martha's recommended cup of apricot jam, I tried to use 3/4 of cup, but I thought it ended up soupy instead of nicely glazing the plums. 1/2 cup of jam would have been ample.
The tart came of the oven a jammy, juicy soup.
Slicing it proved to be a challenge.The tart would have been better had the plum slices been laid on their sides and maybe using only 5 plums.
Between the food processor, the need to put the tart in the freezer at various stages, and the exaggerated amounts of ingredients necessary, the recipe gets a big fail from me. However, it did receive glowing reviews from those with whom I shared it. The lesson here is eat it if it's given to you, just don't make it yourself.
Here's a link to Martha's recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/904198/striped-plum-tart
Ali
Hm- so this recipe makes me think of Clotilde's over at c&z: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2007/09/plum_tart_with_walnut_cream.php
ReplyDeletewhich I actually made years back (the recipe was posted in 2007) and it was quite yummy...Not trying to imply anything about MS or anything, I'm just sayin'. :) Also, I remember you could taste the walnut cream, and the crust was more substantial which helped support the plummies.
Evenin'
ReplyDeleteTried to post last night, but I hit the publish key before the account type key.......and into the ether my comments went. I don't have the edge I had last night, but the gist of my thoughts are thus:
- love the effort and the always-better-than-previous photos
- after trying Pinterest, your blog is soooo organized and easy to maneuver!!!
- take time to look back at your earlier work...you'll be pleased
- still laughing at the zucchini cookies post!!!! great photos and recipe construction, but maybe if you were only the consumer (not producer), you'd like them a lot more! Ali - maybe true of your plum tart...? REMEMBER, 98% of your guests will not have combed the MLS magazine/TV show, so whatever you do is over the top!!!
- Jacqui how many does your Dutch pancake serve...thinking of one plan and one fruit for an upcoming 'brunch'.....?
Thank you for this effort!
Kristina
Darn, hope your brunch didn't happen yet. I think the 4 egg, 1 c. milk, 1 c. flour ratio serves 4. You can just keep adding 2 eggs per 1/2 c. milk and flour for as many people as you need as long as you increase the size of the pan. I also like to serve cut up strawberries on the side which tastes great on the pancake (and even better with a little whipped cream) and also makes it go further.
DeleteThank you!!!!! I've been checking - but not nagging. This helps a lot, and I love the idea of strawberries on the side. I'll try to do two that serve eight. One plain (spelled correctly this time) and one with the blueberries.
DeleteKristina
Let me know how it turns out!
DeleteWhat I forgot to ask you about - cleaning iron skillets/good quality teflon. I'm old school and that means soap never touches either. HOT water and scrapers yes, soap no. I'm too polite when someone wants to help me clean up and they put soap in one...but I cringe inside. Seasoning means something. And what is the first thing one does with that type skillet - yup, you turn the heat to HIGH and let it get really hot. It's what I was taught.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'
Kristina