Plum and Blackberry Buckwheat Tart
This glorious tart — which makes the most of plums and blackberries all through the summer — has a touch of rusticity and whole-grain earthiness from the buckwheat in its crust.
It may look fancy, but it couldn’t be easier. No blind-baking, no peeling fruit, no rolling out dough, no making pastry cream. Its crust, made with half buckwheat flour and half all-purpose flour, gets pressed into a removable-bottom tart pan. The filling is super simple to achieve: Toss sliced plums and ripe blackberries together with sugar, cornstarch and salt. Transfer the beautiful mess into the tart shell, scatter sliced almonds on top and bake.
You can also play endlessly with the filling, using any combination of stone fruits and berries. Recently we made one using half the blackberries called for in the recipe, plus peaches, apricots, blueberries and red plums. We upped the quantity of fruit, adjusting up the cornstarch and sugar accordingly, and heaped the fruit into the shell. It was just as wonderful.
[How did we dream up this tart? Read our story!]
You’ll need an 9-inch or 9 1/4-inch (measured across top) tart pan with a removable bottom.
Serves 6 to 8.
Ingredients
For the crust
100 g / 3.5 ounces (2/3 cup) buckwheat flour
100 g / 3.5 ounces (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
For the filling
4 medium ripe plums (about 450 g / 1 pound), pitted and cut into eights
340 g / 12 ounces blackberries
81 g / 3 ounces (1/3 cup) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
24 g / 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
18 g / 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt and sugar until well combined. Add the butter, toss with your hands to coat the cubes, then work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers, smooshing each piece of butter into a sheet — this will create flakiness. Continue until there are no pieces of butter left unsmooshed.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg together with the milk. Pour 3 tablespoons of the mixture into the flour-butter mixture, and stir with a spoon until combined, then use your hands to gather the mixture up into a ball. If it’s too crumbly to hold, sprinkle on and work in a little more of the egg-milk mixture. Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap with plastic film and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or overnight.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees, with a rack in the center of the oven. Place the plums, blackberries, sugar, salt and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl, and toss them together gently with a spoon. Set aside.
4. If you have chilled the dough overnight, let it sit on the counter until it’s soft enough to work with. Press the dough evenly into the tart pan, then trim the top so it’s even with the top of the pan. Give the filling another stir, then transfer it into the crust-lined pan, scraping in all the juices with a rubber spatula. Scatter the almonds on top.
5. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the almonds and the crust are golden-brown on the edges. Cool on a rack for about an hour, then remove the outer rim of the pan and serve immediately or within 8 hours.
If you like this recipe, try these:
Plum and Blackberry Buckwheat Tart
Ingredients
- 100 g / 3.5 ounces (2/3 cup) buckwheat flour
- 100 g / 3.5 ounces (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
- 3/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 4 medium ripe plums (about 450 g / 1 pound) , pitted and cut into eights
- 340 g / 12 ounces blackberries
- 81 g / 3 ounces (1/3 cup) sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 24 g / 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 18 g / 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt and sugar until well combined. Add the butter, toss with your hands to coat the cubes, then work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers, smooshing each piece of butter into a sheet — this will create flakiness. Continue until there are no pieces of butter left unsmooshed.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg together with the milk. Pour 3 tablespoons of the mixture into the flour-butter mixture, and stir with a spoon until combined, then use your hands to gather the mixture up into a ball. If it’s too crumbly to hold, sprinkle on and work in a little more of the egg-milk mixture. Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap with plastic film and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or overnight.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees, with a rack in the center of the oven. Place the plums, blackberries, sugar, salt and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl, and toss them together gently with a spoon. Set aside.
- If you have chilled the dough overnight, let it sit on the counter until it’s soft enough to work with. Press the dough evenly into the tart pan, then trim the top so it’s even with the top of the pan. Give the filling another stir, then transfer it into the crust-lined pan, scraping in all the juices with a rubber spatula. Scatter the almonds on top.
- Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the almonds and the crust are golden-brown on the edges. Cool on a rack for about an hour, then remove the outer rim of the pan and serve immediately or within 8 hours.