Plum and marzipan tarte tatin

This plum tarte tatin is a cheat’s variation of the classic French dessert and makes an impressive pudding to serve in the autumn with lots of cream or ice cream.

Ingredients

• about 75g/3oz light muscovado sugar
• about 9 ripe large plums, halved and stones removed
• 100g/3½oz marzipan
• 1 x 320g/11½oz pack all-butter puff pastry
• ice cream, cream or crème fraîche, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7 (200C fan).

2. Sprinkle the sugar over the base of the cake tin in an even layer.

3. Arrange the plums on top of the sugar, cut-side down.

4. Roll out the marzipan thinly to a round slightly smaller than the tin and place on top of the plums.

5. Roll out the pastry just a little bit bigger so that it is the width of the cake tin. Cut around the tin to make a circle, lay the pastry over the plums and tuck the edges of the pastry down around the fruit. Make a small cross in the top of the pastry to let the steam out.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown and the plums are tender.

7. Loosen the edges of the tart, then turn out onto a plate and serve with ice cream, cream or crème fraîche.

Plum and marzipan tarte tatin