Name: Spiced plum and marzipan tart with creme fraiche
Ingredients: 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry (320g); 1 egg yolk, beaten; 1½ tbsp demerara sugar; 130g marzipan; 2 tsp orange zest; ⅛ tsp flaked sea salt; 1kg very firm plums, stoned and cut into quarters; ¾ tsp ground cinnamon; 2 tsp cornflour; 60ml sherry, or other fortified wine; 50g redcurrant jelly; creme fraiche or hot custard, to serve

Spiced plum and marzipan tart with creme fraiche

Dessert Baking

Serves 6-8

Prep 20 min

Cook 30 min

This warm, comforting tart makes a great alternative to Christmas pudding. Use darker skinned and very firm plums, so they retain their shape while cooking. If you want to get ahead, build the tart complete with its marzipan topping a day or so before, and refrigerate; only add the plums when you’re ready to bake, though. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Ingredients

1	sheet all-butter puff pastry (320g)
1	egg yolk, beaten
1½ tbsp	demerara sugar
130g	marzipan
2 tsp	orange zest
⅛ tsp	flaked sea salt
1kg	very firm plums, stoned and cut into quarters
¾ tsp	ground cinnamon
2 tsp	cornflour
60ml	sherry, or other fortified wine
50g	redcurrant jelly
	creme fraiche or hot custard, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Lay the pastry sheet on a large baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, then, using the back of a knife, lightly score a border all around the pastry 1cm in from the edge (once baked, this will create a raised edge for the filling).
Brush the pastry all over with the egg yolk, then scatter the demerara sugar all around the border. Prick the inner rectangle of pastry all over with a fork, then coarsely grate over the marzipan (again, only on the inner rectangle) and scatter over the orange zest and salt.
In a bowl, mix the plum quarters with the cinnamon, cornflour and a tablespoon of the sherry, then arrange the fruit decoratively, and overlapping slightly, on top of the marzipan. Discard any remaining liquid in the bowl.
Bake for 25 minutes, turning the tray once halfway, until the pastry is golden and the plums have softened but still hold their shape. Take out of the oven, put the tray on a rack and leave to cool slightly.
To make the glaze, put the remaining 45ml sherry and the redcurrant jelly in a small saucepan on a medium-high heat and cook for two to three minutes, until the mix is bubbling furiously and turns slightly syrupy. Using a pastry brush, gently dab the glaze all over plums, then slice the tart and serve with creme fraiche or hot custard.