Ever thought of making a fruit crumble in tart pan? Plum recipes are definitely the way to go for this! I’ve been making this plum tart recipe every single September for over 10 years and there’s a secret I want to share with you about making it one of the easiest plum desserts you can ever attempt.
The end of summer and beginning of fall always causes me to have some internal conflict.
I’m yearning for warm recipes that comes with chilly and crisp fall days like apple slab pie, apple crumb bars, rustic apple tarts, and harvest salads.
And at the same time, it’s really difficult to leave all that amazing summer produce behind! I mean, grilled farmer’s market pizza? Blueberry ricotta galettes? BLT panzanella salad? Man oh man!
So, stone fruit is sort of the perfect bridge between the two seasons! Since peak stone fruit season here in New England happens in mid- to late-August, peaches and plums are fantastic choices for baking during the late summer and early fall.
Enter this Italian plum recipe.
What Are Italian Plums?
Italian plums are a plum variety that is smaller and more oval shaped than traditional black or red plums you regularly see on the produce stands. They are also called Italian prune plums.
If you can’t find Italian plums to make this plum tart recipe, simply use whichever variety of plum you can find.
Plum Tart Ingredients
Here’s the basic shopping list for what you need to make this easy plum recipe. Be sure to keep scrolling down to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and baking instructions!
- All-purpose flour
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Baking powder
- Italian plums – these are sometimes called Italian prune plums
- Minute tapioca or cornstarch
- Brandy liqueur – This is optional but see the note in the recipe card below. The recipe needs some type of liquid.
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Ice cold water
The Brilliance of a Double Duty Dough
Does it ever get any easier than using a double-duty dough for plum desserts like this one?
The sweetest of late-summer plums are nestled inside a double-duty dough that you’ll make once and use for both the bottom crust and top buttery, crumbly layer.
Baked in springform pan, the tart is easy to transfer to a baking rack without invoking a nervous twitch that always occurs when flipping a crumbly cake out of a cake pan.
See, I have learned a thing or two over the years!
What I Love Most About the Italian Plum Tart
The sides of this tart bake up into a completely addictive crunchy, sugary crust and if you’re a fan of crispy brownie edges, you’ll LOVE the crust of this plum tart just as much as I do.
But what I love most is that double duty crust, which makes this plum tart so much easier than the other plum recipes I see floating around the internet.
After making my favorite plum tart for the first time so many years ago, it absolutely continues to live up to all of my late-summer baking dreams. With plum desserts like this one, apples and pumpkin just continue to wait a little longer to make their annual appearance in this house!
. . . . .
More ways to bake with plums!
plum almond tart from Pastry Affair
purple plum torte from Smitten Kitchen (a New York Times Food recipe)
plum cobbler from Food & Wine
late summer plum cake from Once Upon a Chef
plum tart with lemon shortbread crust from Fine Cooking
. . . . .
Italian Plum Tart
And unless you plan to serve this tart straight from the pan, consider baking it in a springform pan. Baking it in a cake pan makes transferring the whole tart to a serving platter very difficult.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 12 oz Italian plums, halved and pitted (See note #1 below)
- 2 tbsp Minute tapioca or 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp brandy (optional - see note #2 below)
- 1 ¾ cups sugar, divided
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Ice cold water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with baking spray or butter and flour. If you don't have a springform pan, use a 9-inch cake pan instead. Line the bottom of the pan with a 9-inch parchment baking round. Lightly grease the parchment paper. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
- Whisk the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder together in a small bowl; set aside.
- Cut the plum halves in half again and toss them in a medium bowl with the tapioca/cornstarch, brandy (see note below), and ¾ cup of the sugar; set aside for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the dough. Beat the butter and remaining sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute at medium-high speed. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients and stir just until it starts to come together. Add 1 tablespoon of the water and stir the mixture for about 30 seconds, until it becomes crumbly and just holds together when lightly squeezed. If the mixture still seems a little dry at this point, stir in another tablespoon of water.
- Reserve about 1 cup of the dough on the side and press the remaining dough into the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer and working the dough about 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Pour the fruit mixture evenly over the dough (or neatly arrange the plums in concentric circles if you want the tart a little less "rustic"). Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the fruit.
- Bake for 55 - 65 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Cool the tart for 15 minutes before running a knife around the inside edge and removing the sides of the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature with or without ice cream. Vanilla and cinnamon vanilla bean are perfect choices here, especially if you're into making your own, though we ate ours with a local crème fraîche ice cream I found recently and we were not at all disappointed.
Notes
- If you can't find Italian plums for this plum tart, don't fret. Other plum varieties will work nicely here too!
- You can swap the brandy for cognac, water, or orange juice.
adapted from How Easy is That? by Ina Garten
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Yep, stone fruits are totally the answer! This tart is gorgeous and that topping is to die for!
I’m totally unsure as to what I did wrong but my tart stuck to the springform and collapsed when I managed to get it out it collapsed. And it was WAY too sweet! Like not good sweet… maybe our plums should have been more sour?
Hi Andrea, Do you mean the sides collapsed or the center of the tart collapsed and sunk in? I can’t speak for the sweetness of the plums but they do get sweeter when they are really ripe. The tart dough has a fair amount of sugar in it so it’s important to butter and flour the sides of the pan really well. You can tell from my photos that it did stick to the sides a little but I don’t remember having a terrible time getting it out of the pan.
Just made this and it’s great. I’m glad I read the notes. I have a plum tree that is over flowing right now. So I used some really ripe plums and some that were not quite ready. I think I will double the pastry next time too.
Thanks for coming back to leave a review, Laurie! So glad you enjoyed this tart.
Just tried this recipe. Love it! Thank you for the notes super helpful.
Next time I would use a little less sugar other than that easy to bake and eat!
Thank you 😁
Hi Sandra! So happy to hear you love this one and thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a review! Happy baking!
Smells great! Easy and quick to assemble. I increased the dough by 50%, based upon earlier comments. Can’t wait to serve it to my company tonight!
Great suggestion!
Tart is to die for ! I make it regularly while plums are in season ,one problem 1slice is never enough.
Love this!! Thanks for coming back to leave a review, Jo!
Hi! Quick question? When I saw the picture I would have thought there was brown sugar incorporated into a crumbly streusel mix but after reading through see that it’s made from the extra dough. Any thoughts on whether adding some extra crumbles using brown sugar would hurt the taste?
Hi Mel! Yes, you can certainly use brown sugar with the crumbles. Happy baking!
Do you have to use the liquor in this recipe or is there a substitute
Hi Chrisie! You can substitute 2 tablespoons of water, orange juice, or apple juice for the brandy. Happy baking!
So glad I found your recipe! It’s amazing & a hit with everyone I have made it for. I ended up cooking longer – might be my oven. Love it!!
Yay! So great to hear this, Kim! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review!
What about Amaretto instead of the Brandy? I like it better.
Sure! I don’t see why not!
I love this tart! It is so much more delicious than that “other” plum tart…
Great to hear!
Hi Tara, just wondering what adjustments I would need to make if I wanted to use two 6.5″ springform pans. Is it possible to do that? Thanks. Dolly
Hi Dolly, I don’t know how you would convert this into two 6.5-inch pans but I’m sure if you search google, you’ll find your answer. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help!
Just made this yesterday. Based on comments and ripe plums, I decreased the sugar to 1/2 cup for each divide. The result was heavenly, though still a bit sweet for our tastes. I’ll go to 1/3 cup next time….and there will definitely be a next time.
Awesome to hear, Chris! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review!
Had to comment.. Made this after reading the comments and adjusted sugar levels according to the fruit from my garden. I have to admit to adding in fresh figs too… DO IT… ADD FIGS… oh my goodness.. The pastry was a buttery crispy chewy biscuit, the filling was an insane balance of sweet and sour and it looked like total food porn. I utterly loved this recipe and it will be what I do with my plums next year too.
Fantastic suggestion, Jodie!! So looking forward to making this tart with figs this fall!!
Hi , making this tart for the first time. Clearing out my freezer of fruit. Can I use frozen fruit or do I let it thaw first
Hi Janice, I haven’t tried this tart with frozen fruit so I can’t say for sure. What kind of fruit are you planning to use? If berries, I wouldn’t thaw them first. But if larger fruit, like peaches or plums, I would thaw them first before adding them to the tart.
Made plum tart this morning, came out delicious, I used less sugar as the plums were sweet . Will definitely make again, Thank You for the recipe.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed this tart!
Made this last night for a dinner party and, boy, was it a hit. I had frozen plums from a friend’s tree so they were pretty liquidy, but I went for it anyway. It was delicious and I plan to make it again on Monday for a book club gathering. I’ll need to buy plums at the grocery store so hopefully it will be just as good. Great and easy recipe!
Turned out beautifully, it took 6 medium sized purple plums…the brandy added was a nice touch.
Definitely will make it again.
I have a 13 1/2 inch by 2 inch tart pan, I’m thinking that doubling the recipe would be fine. Your thoughts?
I’ve never tried a pan this large so I can’t say if this would work. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
I love this recipe. It is one of the easiest tarts to make. I have small spring form pans and I can make 4 tarts. I always give two away. Very taste especially with vanilla ice cream.
So lovely to hear this, Wanda! Thank you for coming back to leave a review!!
My plums are very ripe. Will this be an issue in this recipe? It looks so good!
No issues with ripe plums at all!
I loved this recipe and so has everyone who I’ve given a slice to! I used a little less sugar based on the comments, used more plums than suggested, added nutmeg, and used Amaretto instead of brandy because it’s all I had. Unlike other commenters, the amount of dough was perfect – make sure the 1 cup you put aside is very loose, not packed, and don’t make the crust thicker than maybe 2-3mm. Here were my measurements (metric/Australian sizes).
Dough
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¾ cup sugar
• 112g unsalted butter, at room temperature
Plum mix
• 400g Italian plums, halved and pitted
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp Amaretto
• ½ cup sugar
• Ice cold water
Tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out delicious and complimented! I had more than double the amount of fruit so I doubles everything else except the sugar, and it was perfectly sweet. Also, when I tossed the fruits in the sugar rum coating, it made lots of liquid, probably almost cup or so. I just sprinkled a little of it over the fruits in the tray, so that the crust would not get soggy, but I’m not sure if everything was supposed to go in? Also, it was a delicious shortbread crumble and crust, but I’m sure if you mix in some oats it’ll become a delicious crisp, if anyone prefers a crisp topping instead of shortbread. Anyways, 5 stars!
The instructions are confusing having partial dough made the plum mixture back to dough.
The tart was.good and.turned out fine but instructions are bad.
The dough for the topping is crumbled and placed on top. It shouldn’t be a rolled out dough for the topping.
I’m looking forward to making this recipe tomorrow. However, it is extremely hot here and I am thinking about baking this in the early morning. Do you think the tart will become soggy?
Thank you!
It shouldn’t be soggy by the end of a day but over the course of a few days, yes it will get soggy.
This is a beautiful and delicious tart. So pleased. Made 2 and delivered one to a neighbor. Plan on making a couple more this week. I have a pluot tree with 4 different types of pluots on it. Everything turned pink to red in my filling and it was really pretty. I used 1/2 C sugar in the fruit and 3/4 C in the crust. It was a little tart and needed some ice cream to round it out, but made it nearly perfect.
Last week I canned several quarts of pluot pie filling. Over the winter, I think I’m going to try using your method and recipe for the crust with the filling I put up. Believe it will work just fine. Thanks so much.
So jealous of your pluot tree! What a treat that must be for you! Love the idea of filling the crust with a filling too!
I bought a variety of sour plums at the farmers market yesterday, I overheard the vendor talking to a customer about how he is the only farmer to supply these plums in the midwest. They are tasty but sour/tart and apparently are great for baking. I am excited to try this recipe later today.
Hope you loved this tart!
So after buying sour/tart plums from the farmers market, I ended up making three pies. I used the recipe as is with cornstarch and brandy. I’ve shared it with my family and they all love it. My father requested another to be made; he’s a super picky pie guy. I have one batch in the freezer, I want to see how it keeps for the holidays. Great recipe, I will be keeping it! Thank you!