Roasted plum & chocolate frangipane tarts: a buttery, flaky chocolate pastry, rich chocolate-almond paste and lightly vanilla spiced plums. Jump to Recipe
A 530am alarm. A quiet but hurried pack, breakfast preparation and sleepy drive to spin class or the pool (due to the weight-bearing restrictions of late). A much-needed coffee is grabbed on the way to the hospital – yes, I am now the horribly environmentally-unfriendly commuter, joining the thousands of single occupant cars trudging along the Melbourne motorways (although, in my defense, public transport takes twice as long and costs more than petrol!). Ward rounds, tutorials, the odd lecture, and talking to patients follow. Lots of walking (crutching, in my case). A tired drive home with the air conditioning and radio blasting, dinner, work if I can be bothered – then a collapse into bed.
And repeat.
I hope I can get used to this new routine – because at the moment it is EXHAUSTING. I don’t think I can remember being quite as tired as I have been this weekend. Even now, my smudged laptop screen keeps blurring out in front of my face, and it requires sheer force of will bring my mind back in focus, to concentrate. It isn’t as if I haven’t gotten up early in the past: I spent years rising in the dark for 530am swim training before school.
My only explanation is the mental exertion of realising just how much we don’t know in hospitals is much greater than the spoon-fed, easy going nature of school, or even regular uni. At least in the latter you can sit down all day, rather than speed-crutching around hospitals to keep up with doctors, interns and older medical students. I’m sure next week’s post will come from a sharper frame of mind – every new environment, new life change requires much more energy and attention that those that are familiar.
It IS better than lecture style learning, though. Everything is easier to remember when you talk about it in relation to an actual person, rather than hearing words that don’t make much sense read off a powerpoint screen by a tired, bored lecturer. Instead, us third years just stumble around thinking – what’s that? Another acronym? But what’s that? And why did you do that? Another drug? Scrawling down messy bits of words to look up later, adding to the mental file of how much there is to learn. This must be the start of the stereotypical illegible doctor’s handwriting!
These roasted plum & chocolate frangipane tarts more than made up for the week. Summer still seems to be hanging around (35°C this week!) and stonefruit remains freely available, so I couldn’t go past it. The initial plan was a pistachio frangipane, but I realised I had done that here and here (probably because it is so GOOD), and also pistachios are insanely expensive when you have to buy them yourself. Sad but true.
Instead, I went with a crumbly, flaky chocolate biscuit tart base with a deep chocolate frangipane, where almond meal balances the chocolate flavour, different from the overwhelming intensity and richness of chocolate ganache or a cream based filling. The plums are cooked twice: once with star anise and vanilla bean, deepening their flavour and adding a syrupy spice, and then again in the tart, almost caramelising at the edges. Served slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, you really can’t go wrong. Desserts like this cure all ills, at least for a while.
Baker’s notes:
- I made 6x mini tarts (8-9cm diameter) here, but you could also use a rectangular tart tin if you prefer. Be aware that the cooking time will be slightly longer though, so you may have to keep checking (probably 25-35min).
- I would recommend brushing some of the remaining plum syrup over the tarts as they come out of the oven for a glossy finish, and then heating it up to spoon warm over the tarts (with vanilla bean ice cream, yogurt or mascarpone!)
- Don’t be scared of adding the star anise – it gives a mild, warm spiced flavour that goes perfectly with the tart and isn’t strong or overwhelming at all. Nothing like christmas mince spice, I promise!
- 1 kg plums , halved and stones removed
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- 2 star anise
- 150 g (1 cup) flour
- 55 g (1/2 cup) icing sugar
- 30 g (1/4 cup) ground almonds
- 25 g cocoa
- 130 g cold butter , diced
- 1 egg yolk
- 100 g butter , softened
- 75 g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 150 g (1 1/2 cups) ground almonds
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons good quality cocoa , sifted
- 80 g good quality dark chocolate , melted and cooled
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Preheat oven to 180°C.
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Pace the plum halves cut side up in a roasting dish(s) large enough to hold them in a single layer.
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In a small bowl, combine the sugar, water, vanilla and star anise. Pour evenly over the plums, coating them well.
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Cover the pan with tinfoil and place in the oven for 15 minutes.
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Remove the tinfoil top and cook for another 10-15 minutes, basting with the sugary syrup until the plums start to caramelise around the edges and are soft.
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Allow to cool before using in the tart. Keep the syrup in a small jug to spoon over the finished tarts
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Combine the flour, icing sugar, almond and cocoa in a food processor. Pulse to combine evenly.
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Add diced butter and pulse until crumbly.
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Add egg yolk and pulse until the pastry starts to come together. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and press into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
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Cream the butter and sugar, scraping down the sides as your go. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined.
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Add the vanilla, ground almonds, flour and cocoa and mix gently until just combined.
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Fold in the dark chocolate. .
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First, make the chocolate pastry and roasted plums.
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Grease 6 x 9cm tart tins (or one larger one, if you prefer).
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Divide the pastry into 6 pieces and roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick. Line the tart tins, pressing firmly into the sides of the tin. If it rips at all or you find that one edge is too thin, it is easy to use the leftover pastry scraps to patch it back together.
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Trim the pastry to form a neat edge - I usually just roll my rolling pin over the edge to cut through the pastry. Rest the lined tart tins in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 180°.
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Line the pastry-lined tins with foil or baking paper, making sure it covers the edges, and fill with rice or baking beans to weigh it down. Bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, take out the baking paper and rice/beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
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Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes.
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Meanwhile, make the chocolate frangipane.
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Fill the tart shells with chocolate frangipane, then arrange 3 plum halves on top, pressing gently into the frangipane.
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Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the frangipane has puffed up slightly and feels set when touched around the edges.
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Leave to cool slightly before brushing with some of the reserved syrup for a glossy finish. To serve, reheat the plum syrup and spoon over the top of ice cream, cream, greek yogurt or mascarpone.
Claudia you are a such an inspiring and amazing young lady!! How can you manage all of that study you do and making such a mouth watering desserts and foods. Just amazing!
Thanks so much Shihoko, that is so lovely of you! x
Stunning photos Claudia! I am so terrified of making short crust pastry (or any kind of pastry) that I keep making cakes, loafs and slices instead. You are really inspiring me to try making more tarts, pies and maybe even a flan! Especially with a chocolate biscuit base! Yum yum yum!
I hope you are healing nicely from your injury. Your current schedule sounds like my old job, except we often joke at work that we don’t cure cancer! (I work in Film and TV) and early wake up calls, a caffeine hit to wake me up and the repeat of the schedule can be quite physically and mentally exhausting. Especially with the long hours. (my sister-in-law is a doctor and I am in awe of how she does it and raise 3 girls with her husband, they are amazing!)
Don’t feel too disheartened though. You have an excellent platform to wind down and while we pin and over pin your recipes, your readers are your personal cheerleaders and always remember that you are studying something that is so selfless and amazing. It will be more than worth it in the end. 🙂 x
Lynette you are the best!! Thank you so much for your words – it means a lot and is lovely to hear. My stress fracture is getting a lot better – down to one crutch now and looking forward to getting rid of that soon! Oh the early wake up calls in TV sound terrible – especially with kids around! Caffeine is an essential haha.
AND yes try short crust pastry! So worth it – and as long as you have a food processor and cold butter, it really isn’t hard. Actually, even if you don’t have a food processor (or want a super easy pastry to start on), try the chocolate cherry tart on here – you don’t even have to roll the pastry out – if you can make cakes, you can make it easily.
Hope you are having an awesome week xx
Oh my goodness, but this looks absolutely divine, and your photos are lovely. Brava!
Thank you!
holy chocolate plums, this looks so yummy!!! what a great combination, it definitely makes me want to try it myself 🙂 you lead such a busy life and have accomplished so many great things! so encouraging!!!! now get some sleep and eat more of these sweets 😉
Gawsh, no wonder you are exhausted! 5:30 alarm for swim training?! You have WAY more self motivation than me, girlfriend! Hope you get used to the routine.. or find some time for power naps! LOVING these tarts – talk about beautiful!! Roasted plums are SO delicious, and I can just imagine how yummy these beauties are! They look dangerously delicious, my dear! Cheers and get some sleep! XO
Haha there is definitely the occasional morning that I sleep straight through it, but generally I prefer to get exercise done in the morning, so I can’t make up excuses in the afternoon not to do it! Thanks so much Cheyanne, they are definitely dangerous – they disappeared scarily quickly in our house! xx
Gosh it sounds like a busy week you’ve just had! I’m fully aware that this is just Hollywood but in my head I always imagine medical school to be like something out of Grey’s Anatomy – all drama and crazy emergencies but a good life lesson to take home at the end of the day! Sadly I lived with enough medics to know that’s not quite true… I hope your back is giving you less grief these days too – does it seem to be healing up? These tarts look incredible. I love plums, though to be honest I rarely think of baking with them, and I’ve never been brave enough to attempt frangipane. I’m thinking I need to be bolder if the results look like these!
Hahaha we haven’t seen much drama yet, that is for sure. Maybe at bigger trauma-focused hospitals or in ED, but not on the general medicine ward! Lots of people with heart failure and respiratory problems.
My back is getting much better – I am down to using one crutch now, and will hopefully be able to ditch that in the next couple of weeks. PS frangipane is NOT hard, seriously give it a go. Easier than baking cookies! Plain almond frangipane is lovely to with fruit – I have a raspberry-rhubarb tart on here that is my favourite way to use it. Thanks Erika! x
Love plums and love chocolate. This roasted plum chocolate frangipane tart is sure would a winner on my dessert table. Love how gorgeous and heavenly they look. These stunning photos are making me drool! So YUM!
Thanks so much Anu! Can never go past chocolate.. guilty pleasure haha! x
Ugh! Early mornings are the worst, but I’m like you, I would rather be emerged in my learning than have someone lecture at me for hours. I hope you find some energy from these gorgeous tarts.
Thanks Nicole! It is much harder to get distracted when someone is actually asking you questions than when sitting in mass lecture theatre with your laptop in front of you… haha! x
These plums look stunning. And pairing them with a chocolate frangipane!!! Every year our little tree at home sheds about 40 – 60 kilo in plums and I always struggle with what to do with it after then endless batches of jams, chutneys, cordials and pies. This is totally what I want.
Beautiful as always Claudia. How you find time to do all this and blog is a mystery…:D
OH that sounds amazing! I can’t imagine being sick of eating plums, but 50kg of them would probably get you to that point. .. feel free to send some over this way hahaha! Thanks so much Ruby xx
These frangipane tarts are beautiful Claudia and I LOVE how you have photographed them Xx
Thanks so much Thalia!! x
Every word of that description… girl I feel you. We can totally do this! I’m actually SO SO happy we both are learning and blogging at the same time, it’s so nice to know we have each other!!!
And these tarts are stunning. And roasting fruit is the best, you’ve inspired me to roast some blueberries for tomorrow’s breakfast now 🙂
Sending you the best vibes!!!!
Busy but managable, right? Love reading your posts too, they always seem so familiar. Roasted fruit always seems to take about 1000x better, I agree (unless it is super fresh and ripe, straight off a tree haha!). Hope your week is going well! xx
Claudia, I can’t even! Every time I come to visit I get blown away by your posts. I think you really really need to do one on photography! How did you get those powdered sugar shots! Your photos are always so crisp and clear. I just want to reach in and face plant into one of those gorgeous frangipane tarts!
Oh my gosh Jessica thank you so much! That is such a huge compliment, seriously put a huge smile on my face. I still feel like I am learning so much about photography, but will take that on board- maybe I will do a post on it sometime! For the icing sugar shots I literally just hold the sieve out in front of me and hold my camera in my other hand haha and try to make sure the shutter speed is pretty fast. If I have more time I use a tripod though. Hope you are having a good week! x
Girl…. I’m exhausted just reading about your daily routine! I seriously don’t know how you have time to create all of these wonderful dishes AND post about them with your intense schedule! Kudos to you! This is such a stunning little tart and your flavor combinations are always so sophisticated, yet easily approachable. You’re rockin’ it!
Hahaha it’s not too bad really, I just need to get better at going to bed on time! I get too distracted with a book and end up an hour later than I should have been. Thanks so much Kathleen, that really means a lot! xx
Oh my gosh!! YUM! These chocolate tarts look amazing! I sometimes buy these cute little chocolate tarts that are also made with almond flour in the crust… they’re so yummy… so I can only imagine how wonderful your fresh tarts are!! The best! Thanks for sharing!
Xoxo Cailee
Thanks so much Cailee! Oh I haven’t seen those but they sound so perfect for when you don’t have time to make pastry (or just can’t be bothered, hahaha!). x
Wow what a beautiful tart Im so pleased Ive now found your blog.
Thanks Rebecca, was happy I found yours too!
This is perfect… in every.single.way! This is the most beautiful roasted plum cake I’ve ever seen!!!!! Your photos is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aw thank you so much Helen, that is so lovely to hear! x
These are just gorgeous! Love love love frangipane. And there’s chocolate and plums too..oh my!
Thank you!! Frangipane is so gorgeous with fresh fruit – so many combinations I still want to try! x
What gorgeous, gorgeous tarts, Claudia!! I love the flavor combination here. Your photographs are also so beautiful. I hope you’re able to catch up on some much needed rest and that your daily routine slows down a bit. I can imagine being totally exhausted right now! XO
Thanks so much Beeta! Actually having an amazing catch-up weekend at the moment – needed a bit of a break! xx
This looks just amazing. I was thinking of making this the day before to serve on Easter Sunday. Do you think it would keep well, or perhaps it would be better to prepare the pastry and plums prior and be ready to cook with the frangipane on the day? advice would be much appreciated!
Thank you! I think either would be fine, but they are really delicious on the day they are made. You could definitely make the plums, pastry and frangipane ahead (store in the fridge) and then assemble and bake on the day. Hope that helps!
That sounds perfect – thank you so much for replying! x