Russia ~ Plum and Almond Tart ~ Sweets

 

Plum and Almond Tart

I have noticed that more often then not, my final product never looks like it does in the cookbooks. Is it just me? That's ok though because this tart tasted Wonderful! And really, in the end, isn't that all that matters?

So a little about this recipe. About a month ago, my favorite bookstore *so not my favorite, just the closest big name bookstore that carries tons of books* went out of business, and was having a sale. Yay for the sale! Boooo for the bookstore closing! 40 to 60% off of books, and of course I had to check out the bargain cookbooks section. That is where I found a grip of cookbooks from different countries *to add to my ever growing collection* so some of the recipes were gleaned from those. 

(It was a seriously awesome sale and I walked away with a huge bag of books all for under $50, R.I.P Borders) If you want the cookbook it is called "Russian, German & Polish food & cooking" by Lesley Chamberlain and the recipe is on page 86 (In my kitchen you can tell what I bake by the pages that have a dusting of flour on them) :p

Alright, enough with the rambling and on to the cooking!!

I am going to try a new approach to this recipe thing, so from here on out, I will list the main ingredients then the recipe will follow so you can do a quick mental inventory of what you will need to get out or go out and get :)

* Butter     *Sour Cream   *Eggs    *Plums    *Jam    *Flour   *Sugar   *Almonds ground and flaked

Recipe

Dough:

1 1/2 cups flour

8 tbsp butter, chilled

4 tbsp sour cream

Topping/filling

4 tbsp butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp for sprinkling

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup ground almonds

6 plums quartered and stoned

1/2 cup jam, plum if you can find it

4 tbsp flaked almonds 

Process

1) sift flour into mixing bowl, dice the butter and rub/cut in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sour cream to make a soft dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 mins

2) For the topping/filling. Cream the butter and sugar until light, add the eggs alternating with the ground almonds.

3) Preheat the oven to 425, Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 12 in round then transfer to a large baking sheet, prick all over.

4) Spread the almond mixture over the pastry, leaving a border of about 1 1/2 inch.Arrange the plums on top, sprinkle with sugar and turn in the border.

5)  Bake tart for 35- 40 minutes or until browned. warm the jam and brush over the tart to glaze. Sprinkle with flaked almonds to decorate.

What I did differently
I could not find ground almonds, so I ended up grinding my own. If you have a blender or food processor then that would be the easiest route to go. I used the flaked almonds I had gotten in bulk for really cheap and just ground those puppies up.

My families reaction
come on, it's sweet, baked and delicious. What kid is going to be like, please don't serve me baked goods today mommy!
I made this for dessert however, it was great for breakfast the next morning as well.