Zwetschenkuchen / Plum Flan

March is supposed to be the beginning of Autumn, but it appears that summer has yet to take its bow. We are still experiencing soaring 30's temperature.
Some love it but I am exasperated begging for Autumn... The heat, flies, no rain and soaring electricity bills annoys me !!!
The only part of that brings a smile are the Summer fruits ... apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums...mangoes..I love Summer fruits.
This year... we have Plums bumper crop ... walk in any supermarket ... I will see PLUMS... PLUMS... and more PLUMS; all varieties; greens, black, dark red ... some are sweet and some will make your face cringe with its tartness and sourness ...I prefer the black plums..
Big chain supermarkets like Woollies, Coles and IGA do have some weekly specials on these fruits and the pricing is reasonable for the big juicy fruits, cheaper than last year, which is the BIG PLUS point for me, Mr H and Miss E... This is my second time... baking with Plums ... my first bake was an Upside down Plum Cake click here ... don't blame me if your eyes goes wonky because of the photos ....hehehe...

Plum season will soon come to an end... so I bid farewell to my dear sweeties.. the PLUMS by baking Zwetchenkuchen or German Plum Flan ...

Auf Wiedersehen..

and I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #5 - Fruity March hosted by Jess of Bakericious.

Recipe (adapted from Clarissa Hyman)

200g self raising flour

pinch of salt

150g butter -chilled

75g caster sugar

zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg - lightly beaten

500 g of small plums

50g almond meal

icing sugar

1. Sift flour into mixing bowl, add salt and rub cold buter until the mixture resemble coarse crumbs. Mix in almond meal, sugar, zest of lemon and cinnamon. Add in egg. Mix well and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Halved the plums and remove the stones, then quartered.
3. Preheat the oven to 190C. Grease a 10inch loose base flan tin.
4. Lightly press the pastry into the flan tin, covering the base and slightly onto the sides.Arrange the plums on the pastry. 
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until the sides are golden brown and the plums are soft and juicy.
6. Leave it to cool in the tin.
7. Sprinkle the Plum Flan with icing sugar and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream...