Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •23cm tart tin with removable base
• •Rolling pin
• •Baking parchment and baking beans
• •Mixing bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry

   Tip the flour, icing sugar, and salt into a bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs with a few larger flecks of butter still showing. Don't be too thorough. Those flecks of butter are what make the pastry short. Add the egg yolk and a tablespoon of cold water, then bring it together with a knife, adding the rest of the water only if you need it. The dough should hold together when pressed but not feel sticky. Flatten into a disc, wrap, and chill for at least thirty minutes.

   Cold hands, cold butter, cold water. Pastry forgives almost anything except warmth. If your kitchen is hot, put the bowl in the fridge for ten minutes before you start.
2. 2

   Prepare the damsons

   Tip the damsons into a bowl and look them over. Pick out any leaves or stalks. You can leave the stones in or take them out, and there are arguments for both. Stones in is faster and the fruit holds its shape better, but everyone at the table needs to know. Stones out is more work and the fruit collapses a bit, but it's friendlier to eat. I usually leave them in. Toss the damsons with the caster sugar, ground almonds, cornflour, and lemon zest. Let them sit for ten minutes. The sugar will start to draw out the juices.

3. 3

   Roll and line the tin

   Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan. Roll the chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface to about three millimetres thick, turning it a quarter turn every few rolls so it doesn't stick. Lift it carefully into a 23cm tart tin with a removable base, pressing it gently into the corners. Trim the edges, leaving a small overhang to allow for shrinkage. Prick the base lightly with a fork and chill for another ten minutes. This second chill matters.

4. 4

   Blind bake the case

   Line the chilled pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans or dried pulses. Bake for fifteen minutes, then lift out the parchment and beans and bake for another five minutes until the base looks dry and pale gold. This stops the pastry going soggy when the wet fruit goes in. Trim the overhang now while the pastry is still warm and cooperative.

   If you don't have baking beans, dried lentils or rice work just as well. Keep them in a jar marked 'pastry' and reuse them forever. Mine have been around longer than some of my saucepans.
5. 5

   Fill and bake

   Tip the damsons and all their juices into the warm tart case, spreading them out so the fruit sits in a single generous layer. Scatter the demerara sugar over the top. Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes, until the pastry edges are deep gold and the damsons have collapsed into a glossy, bubbling, dark purple mess. The juices should be thick and slightly syrupy, not watery. Trust your nose. When the kitchen smells like hot fruit and butter, you're nearly there.

6. 6

   Cool and serve

   Let the tart cool in the tin for at least twenty minutes. The juices need time to set, and a hot damson straight from the oven will take the roof of your mouth off. Serve warm rather than hot, with cold double cream poured from a jug, or thick yoghurt if that's what you've got. Don't forget to warn anyone eating about the stones.

Chef Tips

• •Damsons have a short season, three or four weeks in late summer and early autumn at the most. If you can't find them, this works with greengages, small purple plums, or even halved Victoria plums, though the flavour will be sweeter and less wild. Don't try it with supermarket plums in March. Wait.
• •Leaving the stones in is traditional and easier, but you must tell people. A bitten damson stone is a memorable kind of pain. If you're feeding children or anyone who'd rather not pick stones out at the table, take the time to halve and stone the fruit before you start.
• •The ground almonds are not optional. They sit between the pastry and the fruit and absorb the juices that would otherwise turn the base to mush. A tablespoon of semolina or fine breadcrumbs does the same job if you don't have almonds.
• •Damsons make the best jam in the world, and any leftover fruit is worth simmering down with sugar for a jar to keep. A spoonful of damson jam on toast in February is one of the few things that makes winter feel less long.

Advance Preparation

• •The pastry can be made up to two days ahead and kept wrapped in the fridge, or frozen for up to two months. Let it soften slightly before rolling.
• •The tart is best eaten on the day it's baked, while the pastry is still crisp. It will keep for a day or two in a cool place, though the base will soften.
• •If you have a glut of damsons, stew them with sugar and freeze in tubs. A ready-made filling for tarts, crumbles, and ice cream all winter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)