Plum tart, coconut pastry, fresh ricotta and caramelised white chocolate

I always try to use seasonal produce as much as I can so when asked to do a demo at the Balham food festival a British plum tart was a no brainer.

Twinned with a new coconut flaky pastry that I have been perfecting this tart is quick and easy to make. As a bonus if you are vegan then this tart is perfect and to be honest the texture of the coconut pasrty is actually better than with butter.

Give it a go whilst the beautiful British plum is still at it's best.

Ingredients:

Pastry: (Makes approx 6-8 tarts)

150g plain flour

2tsp caster sugar

pinch salt

6 dessert spoons of ice cold water

10 Victoria ripe plums or similar

1 jar of plum jam

2 dessert spoons of demerera

Method:

. Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees

. In a food processor blitz the flour, sugar and salt together for around 10 seconds just to mix.

. Add the coconut oil to the blender and blitz until all the coconut has been mixed into the flour. The mix will look a bit like breadcrumbs.

. Add the iced water and blitz until the pastry starts to come together.

. Remove from food processor and form into a ball on a lightly floured bench but do not work it too much.

. Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking parchment to around 2mm.

. Allow to rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes in the fridge.

. Remove from the fridge and using a cutter or pre-cut template, cut a rectangle of the pastry and place on a lined baking tray.

. Place in the oven for 10 minutes to blind bake the pastry then take out.

. Cut the cheeks off the plums and slice thinly and lay over the pastry.

. Sprinkle with demerera sugar and bake for  a further 10-15 minutes

. Lightly heat some jam in a pan to glaze the tart

. Remove from oven and brush the tart with the jam glaze and serve

Ricotta cream Ingredients:

240g full fat milk

12og double cream

pinch salt

2 dessert spoons white wine vinegar

200g cream

3 dessert spoons ricotta

1 dessert spoon icing sugar

1 vanilla pod split

Method:

. Place cream, milk and salt and bring to the boil.

. As it boils remove from heat and add the vinegar and mix.

. Leave to start to seperate.

. After a couple of minutes pour into a sieve lined with a blue kitchen cloth over a bowl.

. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours to dry out and drain

. Remove the ricotta from the fridge and take 3 dessert spoons and place in a bowl.

. Lightly whip the 200g of cream and then fold in the seeds from the vanilla pod and sieved icing sugar.

. Serve a spoon of the cream with the warm tart.

. For the caramelised white chocolate just bake on a lined baking sheet for 4-5 minutes at 180 degrees. Until the chocolate is a dark brown then serve with the tart.