Santa Rosa plums have wonderful yellow flesh and bright yellow and red skin. They are sweet, but not terribly so, and they are clingstone, which means the flesh clings to the pit. (The opposite is freestone.) The Santa Rosas I found at the market on Saturday were absolutely beautiful, and they measured about an inch and a half in diameter. This is small compared to the plums one usually finds at the local grocery store.
This type of plum is perfect in a fruit tart or galette. It also would make a beautiful fruit crisp or crumble. In the following recipe, the plums are gently sweetened with raw clover honey and granulated sugar and placed in the center of a rustic dough that was rolled out to an eigth of an inch thick. The dough was gathered around the plums to make a free-form tart.
Santa Rosa Plum Galette
1 recipe galette dough (recipe follows)
1 pound Santa Rosa plums
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus additional sugar for sprinkling
1 egg for the egg wash
Make the galette dough at least two hours before you need it, so that it has time to chill and firm up. After the dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface so that it is 1/8-inch thick. Once the dough is rolled out, place it on a parchment lined baking sheet, and then place the baking sheet in the refrigerator so that the dough will relax and chill while you prepare the plums.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Since Santa Rosas are clingstone, removing the flesh from the pit without damaging the fruit can be challenging, especially if the fruit is very ripe. For these plums, take a small paring knife and slice the plum in half along one side of the pit. Repeat and slice down the other side, essentially forming two halves. Repeat with the remaining plums. Place the plums in a bowl and gently stir in the honey and sugar.
Remove the galette dough from the refrigerator and mound the plums in the center. Fold the dough up and over the plums, leaving the center open to form a rustic round-shaped tart. Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork, just to break the egg up and then lightly brush the egg over the top of the folded galette. Sprinkle with sugar and place in the center of the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
Galette Dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces (8 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter
3 tablespoons buttermilk
Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer and with a paddle attachment mix on low speed to combine. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces and add to the mixer. On low speed continue to mix until the butter is worked into the dry ingredients and is worked down to the size of lentils. Slowly add the buttermilk to the dough and continue to mix just until the dough comes together. Remove the dough from the mixer, gently pat into a circle, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours.