Picnic Plum Tart - Torta Picnic Alle Prugne

This plum tart is quite simple, and is also is one of those things one can bring on a picnic with impunity, because at the most it will crack a little -- not something one normally looks for in a tart or pie, but when one stuffs it into a picnic hamper it's an important consideration. To make a tart for 8:

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup (150 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 3 1/3 cups (400 g) flour
• A pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 3/4 pounds (800 g) plums, blanched, peeled, and pitted
• More butter and flour for the pan

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C)

Cream the butter and the sugar. Lightly beat the yolks and work them into the creamed butter. Next work the flower into the mixture, a handful at a time.

Beat the whites to snowy peaks and fold them into the mixture with the baking powder and the salt. Turn the mixture out into a buttered, floured 9-inch (22 cm) round baking pan and stand the pitted, peeled plums upright in it, arranging them in the pattern you most prefer. Bake the cake for 50 minutes.