Recipes

This recipe was created with late summer in mind. It’s very simple, light and fruity, and really you can make it with any ripe fruit you have a glut of. A variation that works particularly well, though, is apple and cinnamon, which is the winter partner to the summer plum.



Makes about 6 slices

    90 g golden caster sugar
    1 egg
    40 ml groundnut oil (or any vegetable oil)
    55 ml whole milk
    140 g plain flour
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    a few drops of vanilla extract
    6 large plums, stoned and halved
    2 tablespoons apricot jam, to glaze (optional)
    a 20-cm springform tin, lined with greaseproof paper

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) Gas 4.

Method

Put the sugar and egg in a mixing bowl and mix with an electric whisk. Add the oil, milk, flour, baking powder and vanilla and mix again until combined. Transfer to the prepared baking tin and spread evenly. Sit the plums, cut side up, over the mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until deep golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes.

In the meantime, put the apricot jam, if using, in a small saucepan and heat gently until melted and runny. Brush the jam all over the tart with a pastry brush and leave for a few more minutes before serving.

Variation: Substitute 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon for the vanilla extract, and 1 Bramley apple, cored and sliced, for the plums. Follow the recipe as above.

Taken from Popina Book of Baking by Isidora  Popovic (Ryland Peters & Small), with a foreword by our very own Henrietta Green. Photography by Peter Cassidy, copyright of Ryland Peters & Small.