Sep 13, 2014

Ina's plum tart with walnuts and whole rye


Back from Croatia and all I feel like having is either ice cream, rucola or red wine. I've figured why... all to keep Summer in my mind. So today, to bring things back somewhat closer to normal (???....) I turned the oven on and made a pie. 






Ina's plum tart with walnuts and whole rye
adapted from Ina Garten and Gray Apron
time: 20 min preparation / 45 min baking / 20 min cooling

ingredients

1 kg (2 lbs) Italian type (small) plums
50 g (1/3 cup) walnuts blended/chopped fine (preferably toasted)
180 g (12 Tablespoons) cold butter diced
480 ml (2 cups) flour (I used whole rye: 2 cups = 220 g)
165 g (3/4 cups) brown sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut open, seeds removed

vanilla ice cream (hardly optional)

instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F/ 205 C (fan forced function). Line a 26 cm (10 inch) baking form with parchment paper. To line a baking dish: I cut a piece of paper large enough, crush it between my hands, soak it under water, squeeze the water out, shake (gently) the paper to open and line the dish.

Slice the plums open (just about all the way). Remove the pits.

In a large bowl, mix flour with walnuts, sugar and vanilla seeds. Add butter. Using your hands and working rather fast combine and cover everything (but the plums) with butter to make a crumble-looking mass (the process should last about 1 minute). Place about half of the crumble on the bottom of the form and press it with your fingers (it does not have to be exact)

Arrange the plums, starting from the outside, in an organized matter (plums standing upright). Throw the rest of the dough on top of the plums. 

Place it in oven for about 45 minutes. Take it out, let it cool for at least 10 minutes. 

notes
  • I made the Ina's plum tart almost exactly a year ago on a similar occasion;
  • it's September and plums are abundant, delicious and around the corner; 
  • the crust tastes rich and rustic, just sweet enough;
  • when cooled to room temperature, the bottom cuts pretty well;
  • baked plums taste like plums but better.

Thanks, everybody, for nice comments and wishes while I was away. I hope you all had a great Summer. Ours was fantastic... so good I forgot to take pictures :). 

15 comments:

  1. Welcome back!! I hope you had a fantastic summer! And this plum tart looks wonderful!

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  2. Welcome back; I hope you've 'recharged' and full of energy now. Great start with terrific tart!

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  3. Welcome home! I want to keep summer around, too...it was very chilly here this morning. I'd love a slice of your plum tart!

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  4. Welcome back Ela! Hope you had a great summer and trip :) Love this plum tart, it looks terrific!

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  5. Look beautiful Ela!
    Welcome back!
    I love plums:)

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  6. Hi Ela, so glad your back, hope your trip was everything you expected and more. Love this tart, can't go wrong with Ina!

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  7. Welcome back!
    I love that this uses rye flour. Yum!

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  8. Glad to see you BACK! I miss your recipes. The plum tart looks scrumptious, Ela!

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  9. Welcome back Ela! And what a beautiful summery pie! How was your trip?

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  10. This looks delightful, Ela! If only we could make summer last longer.

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  11. Hope you had a great summer Ela. Great way to start off the fall season with this fabulous pie, the Italian plums are my fave.

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  12. It's nice to remember that even though summer's coming to an end we still have gorgeous fall produce on the way

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  13. Haha, I was craving either ice cream or wine tonight too! I wish I had a slice of this plum tart to go with it. It is beautiful!

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  14. WOAH! What an awesome summer you've had. Summer is just around the corner for me, cant wait!!! :) Hope the trip was tonnes of fun! And heck yeah to the plum tart. #getinmybelly

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  15. It looks fantastic! I'm a sucker from plum desserts.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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