Years ago (2009ish) I participated in a baking group called, Tuesdays with Dorie aka TWD, where we baked exclusively from Dorie Greenspan’s cook book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. There was one particular recipe that I REALLY wanted to bake, but I had to miss that week for some reason and am FINALLY getting around to making it.
I love the simplicity of the brioche in this recipe, but LOVE that it’s a bit sweeter than your average brioche. The dough is better made the day before – you get much better results from letting it sit overnight. I happened to have bought some sour plum jam at the Christmas fair just to make this tart with! It’s really hard to find plum jam in the grocery stores, even before the COVID19 shortages. Your beautifully sweet brioche dough is filled with tart jam and fresh plum slices to create a really fancy and decadent coffee cake!
BRIOCHE PLUM TART pg 54-55
DOUGH
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup whole milk, just warm to the touch
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
- Put the yeast and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until the yeast is dissolved.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, and fit the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one.
- Working on low speed, mix for a minute or two, just to get the ingredients together. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 7–10 minutes, stopping a few times to scrape down the bowl and the hook, until the dough is stretchy and fairly smooth. The dough will seem fairly thin, more like a batter than a dough, and it may not be perfectly smooth which is fine.
- Transfer the dough to a clean lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, 30 – 40 minutes.
- Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap into the bowl. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.
- Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours.
- After that leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight – it will be tastier for the wait.
the NEXT DAY
- Generously butter the pan.
- Press the chilled dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides – don’t worry if it’s not even.
- Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is in the refrigerator, prepare the filling.
FILLING
6 LARGE ripe plums, preferably Italian prune plums
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds
3 tablespoons sugar
- Halve and pit the plums.
- Slice each plum in half and then into 4-5 slices. Set aside.
- Toss the chopped nuts with the sugar and set aside.
ASSEMBLY
1/4 cup plum jam
- Remove the tart pan from the fridge and push and press the dough up the sides of the pan.
- Spoon the jam onto the dough and spread it over the bottom.
- Arrange the plums cut side down in concentric circles covering the jam.
Scatter the nut mixture, and cover the tart lightly with a piece of plastic wrap. Place the tart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat and let it rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
BAKING
- Meanwhile, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425°.
- Bake tart for 20 minutes.
- Cover it loosely with a foil tent to prevent the crust from getting too dark, and continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until the fruit juices are bubbling and the crust is firm and beautifully browned – it will sound hollow when tapped.
- Transfer the tart to a rack to cool for at least 45 minutes before serving.
NOTE: This tart looks BEST when it’s made in a 9 inch fluted pan, but I also love using my 9 inch spring form for just about everything these days. I made a second one, but was out of the plum jam now and nuts so I substituted blackberry jam and heath bar pieces for the nuts. Guess what? It was even better!!!!
