Tuesday, March 3, 2009

You Salty Tart: Fresh Plum Tart with Goat Cheese and Walnut-Thyme Streusel

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Salty desserts are all the rage. It seems we're not satisfied anymore with simple sweets, we need them with smokey bacon! and Maldon salt! (And infused with the cereal-milk of our childhood dreams, but I haven't tried that yet.)

This tart isn't a brand-
new invention, though—it's from a 2003 Bon Appetit recipe. Anticipating the trend, I guess.

It's a fun, light-feeling dessert, with a nutty crust and fresh, uncooked goat cheese and ricotta filling. If you wait for plums to be in season, you'll get even tastier results. It's quite impressive-looking, and doesn't even require that you make pie crust!


The thing about salt in desserts, though, is that you have to be careful. One minute, you're fun and edgy, but a few pinches of Maldon later, you're serving pretzels with post-dinner coffee. So I've adjusted the salt a little in the recipe below. The sprinkle of Maldon or fleur de sel on top of the streusel is great, but the ricotta filling really didn't need it.


Plum Tart with Goat Cheese and Walnut-Thyme Streusel
Adapted from
Bon Appetit

For the crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup walnuts (about 2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
7 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 egg yolk

For the streusel
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup walnuts (about 3 ounces)
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Filling and Topping
8 ounces soft fresh goat cheese
8 ounces (1 cup) whole-milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

4 large plums (about 1 pound), halved, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel (I used Maldon sea salt) for garnish

For crust:
Blend first 4 ingredients in processor until nuts are finely ground. If you don't have a food processor, chop nuts finely and add first 4 ingredients to a large bowl, blending with a pastry blender. Add butter; blend until coarse meal forms. Add egg yolk; blend until moist clumps form. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Cover; chill 1 hour.

For streusel:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend flour, walnuts, both sugars, coarse salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in processor until nuts are finely ground. (or chop nuts and use pastry blender in a large bowl.) Add thyme and blend 5 seconds. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until small moist clumps form.

Spread streusel mixture on rimmed baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Stir, then continue baking until golden brown, about 7 minutes longer. Cool streusel completely (mixture will become crisp).

For filling and topping:
Combine both cheeses, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon oil, sugar, nutmeg, and pepper in large bowl; stir to blend well. Refrigerate while baking crust.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides are set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Continue to bake crust until golden brown, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 15 minutes longer. Cool crust completely.

Spread cheese filling in crust. Arrange plums in concentric circles atop filling, leaving 3/4-inch plain border. Sprinkle streusel lightly over tart. Refrigerate tart at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Remove pan sides; place tart on platter. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons honey and 2 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with fleur de sel. Cut tart into wedges.


19 comments:

Thistlemoon said...

Sounds delicious! I am not too much into super sweet desserts, so this is right up my alley!

Phoo-D said...

This sounds great Maggie! I'm fascinated by the streusel ingredients - it sounds crunchy sweet/savory and addictive!

Lisa said...

ooh, very pretty!

brandin + kari said...

BOOKMARKING THIS! Sounds delicious. I just made a crisp the other day with rosemary in the crumble!

We have a restaurant here that also serves a bacon jam to go on their burgers!

carollee03 said...

Holy moly, this looks awesome! Another yummy plum treat is a cake from Bittman that involves those delicious prune plums and rosemary. I can't wait to try this recipe!

pigpigscorner said...

wow, interesting flavour combo! Looks really delicious!

Lo said...

I'm a total sucker for sweet uses for savory herbs -- so the thyme in here is totally calling me name. Looks delish.

We Are Never Full said...

oh wow... this is the kind of 'happy ending' i want. i can almost taste the savory/sweet combo in my mind.

Chef Fresco said...

I just found your blog & you have some very creative, delicious looking dishes! Looks like you put a lot of time into them, nice work!

Justin said...

This sounds just crazy enough to be awesome.

Anonymous said...

Great textures, great flavors, great looking! Thank you!

Nina Timm said...

I like cheese and fruit as a final course, but I have never thought of combining them in one tart! Brilliant!

Jennifer said...

I have a deep love for goats cheese w. nuts, honey and fruit! FABULOUS TART!!!!

L Vanel said...

A great looking tart! Now there is a good reason why I don't ever throw any food magazines away. I'll have to remind my husband why.

anne said...

This looks fantastic! I would have never thought to combine all those ingredients, but suddenly, I must have it!

anne @ pearvana.com

Peabody said...

What great flavors are in this tart!

test it comm said...

That plumb tart looks and sounds great!

Rumela said...

Wow!I like this recipe.I would like to try all of these.. specially goat cheese and walnut-thyme.I am going to try this tonight.The Photos are amazing... I am already feeling hungry.thank you for shearing your post.

Thanks

Rumela
my site

Bob Vivant said...

Just made this with fresh plums from my husband's grandmother's tree - small, white plums - so sweet.

My foil stuck to the crust, so I had to do some scraping and rebuilding. It was easy to hide with the filling.

And I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of AP - made the crust a bit nuttier - yum.

Thank you for the inspiration.

bobbi consciouscrumbs.com