Red Plum Tart with Vanilla Bean

Plums are such beautiful fruit.  I love all their colors from yellow to deep dark purple and the silvery-white bloom covering the plum makes them distinct.  Red plums are my favorite; it's the sweet and tart flavor I love, and these plums are perfect for baking.  Today's One Hot Oven treat is a Red Plum Tart with Vanilla Bean.  Sounds good, doesn't it?

Lately, the bins and tables at the farmer's markets and grocery stores here in Sacramento are full of plums. I ended up with a whole bag of plums after my Sunday visit to the Sacramento Farmer's Market with instructions to keep the plums in the fridge and they will last for a good week.

My beautiful red plums!!!

When you bake plums it deepens their flavor and caramelizes the juices which makes them gloriously delicious. Today's recipe for the plum tart is quick to make because it uses just four ingredients, red plums, puff pastry, sugar, and a vanilla bean.

Let's make a tart, are you ready?

Your first step is to roll out the thawed puff pastry and then sprinkle the dough with vanilla sugar.

Since my tart pan is a rectangle and 14 inches long I rolled both pieces of the puff pastry together so it will fit in the pan.

Layer in the sliced plums.

Here's the trick for making this tart, make sure you pack in the plum slices since they shrink and a lot of fruit keeps the crust from collapsing and losing its shape. Hey, ya want it to look as pretty as it tastes.

Sprinkle the remaining vanilla sugar over the top of the plums.  That's it, now let's bake a tart!

In 20 minutes you can have this tasty dessert on your table that will make everyone ooh and ahh over this luscious tart.

I know you are thinking, hey I've got a ton of peaches sitting here in my fruit bowl and no plums are in sight.  Well, this recipe is really adaptable to all kinds of stone fruits so use those peaches,  apricots, or nectarines and this tart will be just as good.

This easy Peach Almond Tart is similar but with a sweet almond filling. We love this Apple Pecan Tart for an easy fall dessert with fresh apples.

More great recipes

The beauty of this tart is its simplicity of flavor. The vanilla bean and sugar bring out the sweetness of the plums and the flaky puff pastry adds a yummy buttery flavor.

First published: Sept. 12, 2017, Last updated: August 23, 2022, for better readability.

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About Jere’                                                                                                                                       

From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending.  Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.