a damson good time

If you find cancer more interesting than food, look away now. I feel a recipe post coming on...

We have lots of damson trees in the orchard which is very fortunate as they could well be my favourite fruit; especially when the weather is refusing to behave in a suitably end-of-summer way and I am in need of damson crumble. Emma and I made a yummy one yesterday after reading Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries and it was fantastic - ruby red bubbling damson nectar and an oaty crumble topping that slowly sank into and absorbed the juice. But today I needed pastry. (Hey, I ran 4 miles this morning - I'm ALLOWED.)

Previously I have been wary of making gluten-free pastry, instead preferring to leave it to my grandmother, who is the Pastry Queen of Yorkshire. However, after a tentative attempt in Devon I now feel up to the challenge - so damson almond tart here we go... Alas my amateurish home photos in hideous lighting really don't do it justice.

We first had this down in Devon a fortnight ago, when my mother and grandmother rustled up some pastry, filled it with frangipane mixture and topped it all with cherries. Oh my... I just don't have the words to describe what a buttery almondy juicy crisp delight it was. I had 3 helpings at dinner and it was equally delicious cold with coffee the next morning; for once I didn't feel left out as everyone else chowed down on their croissants. I'm telling you, you just have to make it and try it for yourself - if you don't have damsons then indeed plums/greengages/cherries would work.

Am becoming a rapid convert to using Dove Farm gluten-free flour for pastry - it really does work out well, especially if you chuck an egg in to hold it all together better. If you aren't coeliac - well go and use your daft gluteny flour then if you really must. Tchah.

For the pastry:
200g self-raising Dove Farm gluten-free flour (Grandma Bramham's tip - SR keeps it nice and light)
100g butter, chilled and cubed
1 egg

For the frangipane filling:
100g butter
100g sugar (I guess caster would be best but I used granulated because the Swiss Family Mad have no concept of a well-stocked cupboard with a variety of sugars. We didn't even have TONIC water tonight. I ask you. I had to have my gin neat.)
100g ground almonds
1 tsp almond extract (optional)

2 or 3 good handfuls of damsons - no idea what weight I used but you need to halve and stone enough to cover the surface of the dish.

a sprinkling of sugar

Start by making the pastry: rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Crack the egg in and mix together until it forms a ball you can clump up and put into clingfilm. Pop it into the fridge for about half an hour to rest a bit and absorb the water - so you have a better chance of rolling it out without it cracking all over the place. (Gluteny folks: your pastry probably behaves itself a bit better because of the nice stretchy gluten protein providing structure. Appreciate it!)

While the pastry's chillin', get on with the frangipane mixture. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy, then crack in the egg and beat some more before you stir in the almonds. Add the drop of almond extract for extra almondy depth and flavour - mmmm.

Roll out the chilled pastry and line a tart dish (about 20cm across). Abandon all hope of doing this in one piece like Snow White does - just patchwork it together. Prick the bottom of the pastry case with a fork, line with baking parchment and fill with ceramic beans/dried chickpeas/similar. Bake blind for 15 mins at 200ºC or until it's a nice golden-brown colour.

Remove from the oven and spoon in the frangipane mixture (try not to eat too much of it while it's sitting around - that stuff is GOOD). Don't worry if it doesn't look like much - it will rise to cushion the fruit. Stud attractively with the stoned damson halves, packed as tightly as possible. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and pop back in the oven at about 180ºC for 35 - 40 mins, or until the frangipane is golden-brown and crispy, and the damsons are bubbling a bit.

(Looking at the photo again I have a feeling I may have taken mine out a little early... I couldn't wait to eat it. BAD ROZ!)

Serve with lightly whipped cream into which you have stirred a teaspoon of vanilla extract -----> nirvana.

And now there is no tart left. It has all been eaten. I feel bereft... oh well, probably best for the old waistline to be honest. Besides, Mother and I got through a good quarter of it each. I'm off to read Lord of the Rings in bed and digest.

Let me know when you get bored of the minutiae of my daily life... though I hope to have some big cancer updates for you soon: the follow-up and scans are going to be mid-September. This waiting around is frankly rather unsettling after the hurlyburly of treatment - surely this is negligence!? Or reassuring? I cannot make my mind up... though at present I have plumped for the latter.

Now go forth and bake!