Pudding at Christmas doesn’t really have to be Christmas pudding. It feels proper, although, to pinch or borrow from the perfect bits of different festive fare. The marzipan, orange and spices from the Christmas cake; the redcurrant jelly from the roast; the sherry from whoever’s cracking on. That is my form of dessert: various however conventional on the similar time.
Spiced plum and marzipan tart with creme fraiche
This heat, comforting tart makes a fantastic various to Christmas pudding. Use darker skinned and really agency plums, so they preserve their form whereas cooking. If you wish to get forward, construct the tart full with its marzipan topping a day or so earlier than, and refrigerate; solely add the plums while you’re able to bake, although. Serve heat or at room temperature.
Prep 20 min
Cook dinner 30 min
Serves 6-8
1 sheet all-butter puff pastry (320g)
1 egg yolk, crushed
1½ tbsp demerara sugar
130g marzipan
2 tsp orange zest
⅛ tsp flaked sea salt
1kg very agency plums, stoned and reduce into quarters
¾ tsp floor cinnamon
2 tsp cornflour
60ml sherry, or different fortified wine
50g redcurrant jelly
Creme fraiche or scorching custard, to serve
Warmth the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gasoline 7. Lay the pastry sheet on a big baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, then, utilizing the again of a knife, calmly rating a border throughout the pastry 1cm in from the sting (as soon as baked, this can create a raised edge for the filling).
Brush the pastry throughout with the egg yolk, then scatter the demerara sugar throughout the border. Prick the internal rectangle of pastry throughout with a fork, then coarsely grate over the marzipan (once more, solely on the internal rectangle) and scatter over the orange zest and salt.
In a bowl, combine the plum quarters with the cinnamon, cornflour and a tablespoon of the sherry, then organize the fruit decoratively, and overlapping barely, on prime of the marzipan. Discard any remaining liquid within the bowl.
Bake for 25 minutes, turning the tray as soon as midway, till the pastry is golden and the plums have softened however nonetheless maintain their form. Take out of the oven, put the tray on a rack and go away to chill barely.
To make the glaze, put the remaining 45ml sherry and the redcurrant jelly in a small saucepan on a medium-high warmth and cook dinner for 2 to 3 minutes, till the combination is effervescent furiously and turns barely syrupy. Utilizing a pastry brush, gently dab the glaze throughout plums, then slice the tart and serve with creme fraiche or scorching custard.
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