German Plum Tart - FLA la la la la

This tart has many names depending where in Germany you live. Pflaumenkuchen in some places. In Bavaria it's called zwetschgendatschi.Here in our corner of Nordrein Westphalia, it's called Pflaumenfladen and in our region it's just shortened to "Fla."

We have three gorgeous plum trees on our property. The Mirabelles are over now but we still have these little late summer purple prune plums, or zwetschgen aplenty. So this will be the first of a few plumcentric posts until the end of the month.

My mother in law, Fine was making several of these tarts so I got all up in her baking business to "help". Of course, she really doesn't need my help. She has been making this treat for the last 60 odd years. I was just using "helping" as an excuse to learn from the master plum tart maker in the family.

The day before I had done my harvest penance and dragged out the ladder to pick the ones near the tops of the trees she could not reach with the picker.  This turned into a comedy of sorts. As I was grabbing the branches to pull the plums off, several would fall to the ground. Fine would go around with her bucket picking up the ones that dropped and the minute she had her back turned, Lucy the sheep and Rosalie the dwarf goat would each snatch a plum out of the bucket to scarf down.

Plum Thieves

After some instruction from Fine, I put myself in charge of properly slicing the plums. They are cut in a way to make them stand up to attention on the tart. You slice from the stem all the way around and then crosswise in the other direction but only half way down the plum.

As I worked, Fine entertained me with family stories. Her mom was a cook for a family and Fine grew up in the kitchen at her knee. What really blew me away was the 100 year old pan she has and still uses which was passed down from her step grandmother, whose maiden name is Dreissen. Fine showed me the D molded into the bottom of the pan.

I can't even begin to imagine how many plum tarts have been made in this pan

Here is Fine's recipe for Vla or Plum Tart


Makes two 10 inch round pans or one big sheet


Ingredients:

• 3 *1/2 pounds prune plums
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine or crisco
• 1 small egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 heaping tablespoon of breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream (optional)

Directions:

• Cut plums by scoring from the stem all the way lengthwise around the plum but leave it in once piece. Throw out the pit then turn the plum and score in the opposite direction, only halfway down this time.
• Grease both tart pans
• Put flour, yeast, egg yolk, salt, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla sugar together in a bowl. Do not mix. Cover and set aside for a half hour in a warm place.
• Warm the milk (don't boil it) and add it to the mixture. Add the margarine/crisco, mix and knead thoroughly. Set aside for 20 minutes or until dough doubles in size.
• Preheat oven to 400 Degrees
• Split dough in half. Roll out into a circle and transfer to pan. Trim the edges.
• Using a fork make impressions to form the crust and poke holes in the bottom.

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• Sprinkle 1 heaping teaspoon of breadcrumbs over the pan (this helps absorb the juice from the plums and prevents a soggy crust from happening)
• Starting from the outer edges lay the plums 

• Let the tart stand in a warm place for 15 minutes and then put in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• While the first one os baking, Prepare the second. 
• After removing the tart from the oven, sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar over the top. 
• Whip some cream and spoon a bit on top of each slice you serve.