I read something the other day that suggested not using clever, metaphorical, or vague blog titles. According to the writer, doing so cuts down on the number of people who will find your blog when entering something specific on a search engine.
Had I followed that advice, I would have titled this post “A Quick Plum and Cherry Tart,” but I stand by my choice to ignore the Internet expert since said tart is an excellent reason to make your own pastry, and to keep some in the freezer at all times.
Around noon today I got a dinner invitation and the tart was out of the oven by two. I used four plums, twelve cherries, a couple of almond cookies, and a marginal amount of sugar, in addition to the previously-mentioned pastry. If you don’t have the cookies, figure out what else you have in your kitchen that crumbles—Matzo crackers, a slice of leftover cake, stale bread . . .
The recipe was improvised so who the hell am I to tell you not to do the same. Play, have fun, eat pie.
A Quick Plum and Cherry Tart
Pastry for a single crust pie
4 red or black plums, ripe but still firm enough to slice
A dozen cherries
4 amaretti cookies, crumbled, or 1/4 cup or so crumbs of some kind
Sugar—2 tablespoons will keep it tart, 3 will be sweetly-tart, and 4 will be sweet enough for those who like dessert to be sweet
Roll the pastry on a floured board into a roughly 12-inch circle; trim the edge to make it neat, more or less. Transfer to a baking sheet and fold over an inch of the dough, crimping it to form an edge to hold in the fruits’ juices.
Place the pastry in the refrigerator and heat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the cherries in half and remove pits; set the cherries aside. Cut the plum into three pieces, making one cut on each side of the pit (feel around with your knife and you’ll find it); cut into 3/8-inch (or whatever) slices; set aside.
Remove the crust from the refrigerator and crumble the cookies over it. Arrange the plum slices over the crust and tuck the cherry halves in between them, here and there. Sprinkle 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar over the fruit. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 375 and bake another 20 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the crust golden brown. If the juices are not quite thick enough, you can switch the oven to the broil setting for about a minute and they’ll get all thick and bubbly and wonderful.
Cool to warm and serve, as is, or with a dollop of whipped cream or whole milk yogurt.
Serves 8
Note: To thaw frozen pastry in a hurry, I have had success microwaving it on the defrost setting for two to three minutes, microwaving it for a minute, allowing it to rest five minutes, then microwaving again (it should still be cool at the center).
1 Comment
June 9, 2009 at 4:31 am
I like my blog titles (often song-title-based), despite the fact that they are not often clearly related to the recipe/post. I’m with you.