Plum and Hazelnut Puff Pastry Tart:

First post of 2014 and it's one of my favourite family recipes. This dish is one we'd have every summer when our plum tree would be so laden down with plums and it'd become a race between us and the blackbirds as to who could eat them the fastest.

So this year as I'm visiting my parents over the summer, I made sure to get in before the birds and collect a giant basket of these gorgeous Black Doris plums and finally put pen to paper and document my mum's recipe.

We usually call it by a Swiss name so I was unsure what to title it in English. It has a puff pastry base and a thin layer of ground hazelnuts on which the plums sit enveloped in a custard. So is that a flan or a tart or or pastry or pie? No idea, alls I know is that it's delicious. And thankfully that's all that really matters.

PLUM AND HAZELNUT PUFF PASTRY TART

Ingredients:

400g flaky puff pastry
100g hazelnuts, finely ground
approx 23 'black doris' plums
4 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
300ml cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 210 Celsius.

Roll out the pastry to fit a roasting tray approx 34cm x 24cm. Needs to come up the sides a couple of centimetres.

Using a fork, prick the base of the pastry several times. This is to stop it puffing up randomly during baking.

Sprinkle the ground hazelnuts evenly on top.

Chop the plums in half, remove the stones, then make another slice 3/4 the way through each half, like so:

Then place the plums in the tray, overlapping them ever so slightly, as in the picture above.

Next, whisk together the eggs, sugar and cream. Mix for a minute or two until the eggs are completely beaten in. Pour the mixture evenly onto the plum tart.

Place in oven preheated to 210 Celsius and bake for approx 30 minutes until the pastry browns and the custard is set. Just jiggle the tray or poke the custard to test if it has set.

Can be served warm or hot. we love to eat it with a sprinkle on cinnamon sugar and a dollop of whipped cream.

Will serve at least 8, depending on choice of serving size. So can serve up to 16.