Tarte aux Mirabelles

An open shortcrust tart from Lorraine packed close with halved golden mirabelle plums that slump and caramelise as they bake, their honeyed juices set in a thin almond custard beneath a dusting of caster sugar

Origin: Lorraine, France

From the journey of Plum.

The mirabelle is the plum of Lorraine, and Lorraine is the country of the mirabelle: the region supplies the overwhelming majority of the world's commercial crop, and since 1996 the fruit has carried a protected geographical indication, the Mirabelle de Lorraine. The variety in question is a small, round, golden-fleshed plum (Prunus domestica subsp. syriaca), no bigger than a large cherry, with an intense honeyed sweetness and a faint almond note that sets it apart from larger dessert plums. Its season is brief and emphatic, running roughly from the middle of August to the middle of September, and during those weeks the markets of Metz and Nancy fill with crates of the fruit whilst households put down jars of jam, bottle the eau-de-vie, and bake the tart. The tarte aux mirabelles is the simplest and most beloved expression of the glut: a buttery shortcrust base, the plums halved and packed tightly cut side up, and a baking hot enough to concentrate their juices to a sticky gold. Many Lorraine cooks bind the fruit in a light egg-and-cream custard, the migaine, the same enriching device that defines the savoury quiche of the same region; others prefer the fruit naked on the pastry, scattered only with sugar and sometimes ground almonds to catch the syrup. Either way the tart belongs to the late-summer table, served barely warm, and it is as much a marker of the Lorraine year as the harvest itself.

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 250 g plain flour
  • 125 g cold unsalted butter, diced
  • 50 g icing sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp cold water
  • 1 pinch fine salt

Filling

  • 800 g ripe mirabelle plums, halved and stoned
  • 3 tbsp ground almonds
  • 30 g caster sugar, for scattering

Migaine (optional custard)

  • 2 eggs
  • 100 ml double cream
  • 40 g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp mirabelle eau-de-vie or kirsch (optional)

Method

  1. Make the pastry. Rub the cold butter into the flour, icing sugar, and salt until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg yolk and just enough cold water to bring it together into a smooth dough. Flatten into a disc, wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Roll the chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface and line a 24cm tart tin, pressing it well into the corners. Trim the edges, prick the base, and return it to the refrigerator whilst the oven heats.
  3. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Line the pastry case with parchment and baking beans and blind-bake for 12 minutes, then remove the beans and bake for a further 5 minutes until the base is dry and pale gold.
  4. Scatter the ground almonds evenly across the warm pastry base. Arrange the halved mirabelles cut side up in tight concentric circles, packing them closely, as the fruit shrinks considerably in the oven.
  5. For the traditional Lorraine finish, whisk together the eggs, cream, caster sugar, and eau-de-vie, and pour this migaine carefully around and between the plums. If you prefer the fruit unbound, simply omit the custard.
  6. Scatter the 30g of caster sugar over the surface and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custard is just set, the plums are slumped and caramelising at the edges, and the pastry is a deep golden brown.
  7. Allow the tart to cool to barely warm before unmoulding and serving. A final dusting of icing sugar is traditional, as is a small glass of mirabelle eau-de-vie alongside.

Notes

Fresh mirabelles travel poorly and have a short season, so outside Lorraine and its neighbouring regions you are most likely to find them frozen, bottled, or in jars; any of these will work, though the fresh fruit baked at the height of August is incomparable. If you cannot obtain mirabelles at all, small golden plums such as the cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) or a ripe greengage make a fair substitute, but reduce the added sugar, as larger plums are tarter and wetter than the honeyed mirabelle. The tart is the everyday cousin of the region's grander preserves: the same fruit becomes the celebrated mirabelle jam and, distilled, the fierce and fragrant eau-de-vie that is Lorraine's signature digestif.

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