Plum Tart With Port In Rustic Phyllo Crust

Another yummy dessert to make and serve to family and friends, no matter the occasion. (who needs an occasion to enjoy this?) You can change the fruit to Peaches and Amaretto, or whatever your favourite fruit is. Just match the liqueur and fruit together and you have a win-win dish.

  • 2 cups nice tawny coloured Port
  •  1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. packed brown sugar
  •  1/4 tsp. allspice
  •  6-8 plums, halved, pitted and cut each half in quarters
  •  1 tbsp. flour
  •  10 sheets Phyllo pastry sheets
  •  1/4 cup melted butter
  •  sugar to coat

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil the Port, 1/2 cup brown sugar and allspice in a large skillet until reduced to about 1/3 cup (about 10 minutes).

Place the plums in a large bowl, sprinkle the flour over and toss to coat. Drizzle 1/3 cup of the sauce over the plums and toss to coat. Reserve the remaining sauce.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay the sheets of phyllo on the work surface, covering with plastic and topping with a damp towel. This way they won’t dry out while working. Take the first sheet of pastry and lay on the parchment paper, brush with melted butter and lightly sprinkle with sugar. Repeat for all the layers.

Spoon the plums onto the phyllo, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of pastry all around the edges. Fold the edges of the phyllo up over the plums. Drizzle the remaining syrup from the bowl over the plums. Carefully brush some melted butter over the edges of the pastry and sprinkle with the remaining brown sugar.

Bake the tart until crust is golden (do not burn) and the plum syrup is bubbling. (35-45 minutes). If the pastry edges are getting too brown, cover with foil.

Cut while warm in wedges and serve with, can you guess?…..sweetened whipped cream and drizzle the reserved sauce over.

OMG! This is good….better than good…..gotta go and buy me some plums…..ooooohhhhh!

Cranberry-Port Ices

This might be the answer for having a dessert after a heavy meal. It is light, cold, refreshing and a perfect balance between sweet and tart (not sour).

 

  • 3  1/2 cups fresh cranberries
  • 3 cups water
  • 1  1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup of a deep ruby red port (the alcohol is cooked off and the flavour remains)
  • 3 strips of lemon peel (each one about 3 inches long), plus 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the berries are tender (18-20 minutes).

Let this cool down for 15 minutes and remove the zest. In two batches, puree the mixture in your blender until smooth and strain to remove the seeds. Squeeze through the seive with the back of a wooden spoon and discard the solids.

Put in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator to get cold.

Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the directions of your machine. When ready, transfer to an airtight container . Be sure to place this in the freezer for at least one hour before serving.

Yum!