Four Layers, Three Bakes, One Tasty Bar: Plum and Almond Crumble Slice

With a large supply of Italian prune plums on hand, I decided to try another plum recipe from BBC Good Food: a Plum and Almond Crumble Slice. These bars have four distinct layers: a shortbread crust, a cake-like almond filling, sliced plums, and a crumble topping. The recipe is written to be baked in an 8-inch by 12-inch pan and I figured that a 9-inch by 13-inch pan was close enough.

The method for making the crust, filling, and topping is interesting. You start out by blitzing cold butter, ground almonds, and sugar in the food processor; this forms a base mixture that does triple duty. When you take half of this base mixture and add flour, it becomes the shortbread crust -- which you press into the parchment-lined pan and bake until golden. When you take most of the remaining base mixture and add eggs, flour, sugar, and baking powder, you get the filling layer. You spread the filling on the slightly cooled baked crust, add a layer of sliced plums (the recipe doesn't specify the weight of the fruit but I ended up using 425 grams of Italian plums), sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar, and bake the bars again. The remaining base mixture becomes the topping. You sprinkle on the topping along with some sliced almonds and bake the bars for a third and final time.

I let the bars cool completely in the pan before cutting them. These bars were great. The crust was thin and crisp; the filling layer was dense and moist like frangipane, with a warm touch of cinnamon; the tart plum layer was full of flavor without becoming soggy; and the topping and sliced almonds added some nice sweetness and texture. The proportions of all of the components were just right, creating a well-balanced and harmonious dessert. I really like plums with either almonds or cinnamon, and having all three together was just lovely.

Recipe: "Plum and Almond Crumble Slice" from BBC Good Food.