Really Quick Plum and Almond Pastries

These tangy and sweet really quick plum and almond pastries make a deliciously fruity snack or dessert. All ready to eat in 20 minutes!

Perfect Plums

For me, plums are the perfect late summer fruit. These juicy, crimson jewels are at their ripest in late August and symbolise the drawing to a close of the warm, lazy days of a bygone summer.

This is why now is the perfect time of year to use plums in some of my recipes! Their sweet and juicy, yet slightly sharp flavour blends so well with both sweet and savoury recipes alike. These really quick plum and almond pastries showcase these flavours perfectly.

I’m always on the lookout for the health benefits of the ingredients that I use in my quick recipes. Plums are no exception to this, and are surprisingly healthy. Plums are rich in antioxidants, help to regulate blood sugar levels and are even thought to be protective of heart health. Plums also provide decent amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin K. All the more reason to include them in my cooking I say!

Amazing Almonds

In these really quick plum and almond pastries, I’ve chosen to combine the plums with a sweet ground almond paste – basically a simplified version of a frangipane – which is a sweet almond flavoured custard originating from France.

Frangipane is delicious but it is really, really sweet! Almost too much for some people, however the important thing is what you combine it with. Frangipane pairs perfectly with the sharp and tangy flavour of plums. Almonds and plums are really a match made in heaven which is why you’ll find them together happily in in this recipe.

These very quick pastries also use one of my all-time favourite quick cooking ingredients – puff pastry!

Puff pastry is such a fabulously adaptable and easy quick cooking ingredient. You can buy puff pastry in the stores these days in ready to use, rolled up sheets. You simply unravel it, pop on toppings of your choice, then chuck in the oven for a short time before voilà! You have your meal or snack all ready to enjoy. This is why puff pastry forms the perfect base in these really quick plum and almond pastries recipe. 

Why not check out some of my other puff-pastry recipes for further snack and meal time inspiration? Such as these 15 Minute Mushroom & Mascarpone Puff Pastry Squares, these 15 Minute Goat’s Cheese, Red Onion & Walnut Puff Pastry Squares, these 15 Minute Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Puff Pastry Squares and finally, for a more sweet-toothed option, these gorgeous Quick Puff Pastry Cinnamon & Raisin Twists.

One thing about ready to roll puff pastry is that it is usually not sweetened. So when using it in a sweet recipe, you need to make sure the other ingredients are sweet enough to create the perfect flavour. I find one way to achieve this is by painting on melted jam.

For these really quick plum and almond pastries, I do this just after they’ve been removed from the oven. I like to use apricot jam for this. Not only does it add the extra sweetness and fruity flavour, but it also creates a beautiful, shiny gloss on top of each pastry. Gorgeous!

Really Quick Plum and Almond Pastries – Step by Step Method

Lets now have a peek at a useful step-by-step guide to making your perfect quick plum and almond pastries with some photos along the way to guide you in the process….

Makes 6

STEP BY STEP

Step 1

Start by pre-heating your oven to 220°C / 200 C fan (430 F / 400 F fan)

Step 2

Take one 350g (12 oz) ready-made puff pastry sheet. This is the approximate weight of the sheet…the actual weight will depend on which brand of puff pastry you choose. This isn’t an issue – if it’s a little heavier or lighter than 350g it’s ok, it’ll still work perfectly well for this recipe.

Unroll the pastry sheet onto a clean surface and then slice it with a sharp knife into 6 equally sized squares. Pop these squares onto a large greased baking tray that’s been lined with baking parchment, to stop the pastry sticking. Leave a small gap in between each square to allow space for expansion during the cooking process.

Note that you may actually need two baking sheets if you don’t have a single one that’s large enough to hold all 6 pasty squares.

Step 3

Now it’s time to make your quick almond paste.

Grab a medium bowl. In this bowl, place 80g (2.8oz) of caster (superfine) sugar, plus 80g (2.8oz) of ground almonds, 40g (1.4oz) of butter or plant-based spread and finally, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Stir this all together until fully combined.

As a side-note, my son has a dairy allergy so I usually use plant-based spread rather than butter in most of my recipes. Provided that you have a type of puff pastry that is dairy-free (and I find most of them are), this means that the recipe is vegan which is a bonus for many people. However, others prefer the more traditional taste of dairy butter so feel free to use that instead of plant-based spread if you like.

Divide the sweet almond paste mixture equally between the six pastry squares by dolloping on spoonfuls in the centre. You’ll end up with approximately one rounded tablespoonful of paste per square. Using a knife, spread the paste around each pastry square base, leaving an approximately 1 cm outer rim free from the paste.

Step 4

Now it’s time to prep your plums.

Cutting plums can be a tad annoying as the stone in the centre does tend to get in the way. However, just try and cut around it as best you can and discard any flesh that remains stubbornly clinging onto the stone as it can be tricky to cleanly cut this all off.

Take around 5-8 plums (depending on the size) and slice them into 2-3mm (thin) round slices. Lay these plum slices on top of the almond paste on each pastry square. Overlap them slightly so you should end up with about 6-8 plum slices per square.

Step 4

Pop the topped pastry squares into the preheated oven and bake for around 13-15 minutes, until crispy and turning a little golden at the edges. Remove from the oven when cooked.

Step 5

After removing the pastries from the oven, place 3 rounded tablespoonfuls of apricot jam into a small bowl. Pop in the microwave on full power for around 20-30 seconds, until hot and melted. Using a pastry brush, paint this molten jam mixture over the top of each cooked pastry square until glossy. Be generous! We want to really enhance the sweet, fruity flavour.

Finally, scatter 3 level tablespoons of flaked almonds evenly on top of the squares (so around half a tbsp. per square). This will give your plum pastries a yummy crunchy texture on top.

That’s it, all done! These yummy squares can be eaten either warm or cold.