Plum crumble tart with almond frangipane

 Gordon Ramsay's 'Three star chef' book sat on my bookshelf for ages. I was never brave enough to try anything. That was a book for looking at the pictures only. I don't know if it was sudden boost of self confidence or just the act of silliness but I've decided to make one of his desserts.
I chose Plum crumble tart with almond frangipane.
I have to say that this dessert is time-consuming to make but tastes amazing.  The more flavoursome plums the better.

PASTRY

225g plain flour

pinch of salt

1tsp caster sugar

140g unsalted butter, diced

1 medium egg yolk, beaten with 2tbsp water

Sift the flour and salt into bowl, add sugar and put into a food processor along with the butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse  crumbs. Adds the egg and mix until the mixture comes together. Wrap into a cling film and put it in the fridge for 30min.

FRANGIPANE

75g unsalted butter

75g caster sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

75g ground almonds

Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Incorporate the egg and almonds. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside.

PLUM FILLING AND SAUCE

12 firm plums

500ml stock syrup

Half and stone 8 plums, then cut into wedges. Put stock syrup in a saucepan and poach plums for 6-8min. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.

For the sauce, stone and cut 4 plums. Poach in the same syrup for 8-10min. Put it in the blender and make a puree. Push it through a sieve.

PLUM PUREE

3 plums

2tbsp caster sugar

Stone and chop the plums. Toss it with the sugar and place in a frying pan. Cook over medium heat until juices are cooked off. When soft, puree the plums.

CRUMBLE

45g plain flour

pinch of salt

40g unsalted butter

35g caster sugar

45g ground almonds

I put all the ingredients in the bowl and rub them with my fingers until they look like a crumble.

For the assembly, roll out the pastry and line it in a tin of your choice. I filled five 8cm tart rings and one 20cm. Blind bake it for 15 min. Cool slightly, then spread a thin layer of frangipane over the base of each tartlet case. Bake for another 8-10 min until frangipane is slightly golden. Now spread a little puree in the middle of each tart. Arrange plums segments in a overlapping circle on top. Sprinkle a little crumble in the centre and bake for 5min until the crumble is golden.

Technically you should leave it to cool but I couldn't wait and tried it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.