Tracey, Di, and I had talked ourselves out of making this selection this week, all on our own of course, and when we were chatting we just reinforced the idea of nixing it for a week. Then Holly entered the picture and Holly has never missed a single week (unlike the rest of us), so the thought of Holly ruining her record just didn't sit well, and we offered to bake along with her, with Nancy's encouraging words as she had made it, her husband deemed it the best recipe yet, and convinced us that it really didn't take that long and we would appreciate that we had made it. So Tracey, Di, and I figured we would keep Holly company and cheer her on by making the tart after all this week. Of course, we all decided this at a way late hour, so posting was going to be sort of an untimely event. One makes the dough the night before, lets it rest in the frig, and then assembles and bakes in the morning, which is a nice deal for a breakfast tart since all the time consuming dough rising part is really the night before. Around here no one, including myself, is that excited about baked plums for some reason. We all like them eaten out of hand, but just not baked so much. Since no one was that thrilled with the recipe, I figured skipping it would be the way to go as we really have been having too many desserty type things around here lately. Once committed to the week, however, I decided to read the side bar and see if Dorie had any other suggestions for the fruit in the tart, and she had plenty. Peaches and cherries are a big hit around here, being two of Mark's favorites, so I went with that and cherry jam figuring he would at least eat the tart for the fruit. I also subbed in almonds for walnuts as we like those with these fruits. I am happy I made this, as it turned out nicely, a little browner than I would have liked, so I am attributing that to my oven as I tented the shell way before the time suggested in the book, and it still got dark way too fast...next time I will tent from the beginning. Or maybe I will only put the dough half-way up the sides of the tart pan so that when it rises it does not reach over the pan and brown too much. Nevertheless, darker than I like or not, it is being eaten with gusto and favorable compliments. Is it Top Five? No, but it was good. I have come to the conclusion that to rank Top Five over here with the guys, chocolate must be involved. It's a repeat, as long as plums are not in sight. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Brioche Plum Tart, can be found on pages 54-55, and was chosen by Denise of Chez Us. If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Denise's site above and she will have it posted today.
Next week's recipe was chosen by Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, is Raspberry Blanc-Manger, and can be found on pages 398-399.