Sunday, July 11, 2010

Peach Tart with Almond Crust

This peach tart has a delicious buttery almond crust topped with toasted almonds. It is easy to make and doesn't take too long but there is some planning ahead of time required. I learned that the best peaches to buy are Southern and not those from California when eating them plain, but this tart is perfect to use up any unwanted peaches. The almonds are used all over the tart, in the crust, with the peaches and on top. The almonds give the tart a unique flavor beyond sweet peaches and buttery crust as well as adding a bit of a crunch! When I served the tart I topped it off with a dollop of vanilla ice cream from my favorite place, Four Seas Ice Cream in Centerville, Cape Cod.  I baked this tart last night for a dinner party for my parents and it's so good they asked me to bake another for the World Cup barbecue tonight!
Peach Tart with Almond Crust Recipe:
Serves 6 to 8 people
Read through entire recipe and instructions before starting.
Ingredients:
Crust:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and diced
3/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 egg yolk, beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
2 tablespoons peach preserves
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 pounds ripe peaches, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 tablespoons lemon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 table spoons unsalted butter, diced
1 pint vanilla ice cream (optional- but I definitely recommend it!)
Directions:
Crust:
1. Butter a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom (I used a spring form pan and it worked just as well)
2. Coarsely grind almonds in food processor, add flour and sugar and process until nuts are finely ground
3. Add butter and pulse until combined.
4. Pour egg yolk and vanilla and mix until large clumps are formed
5. Press dough evenly onto bottom and cover and freeze for 30 minutes
6. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown about 15- 20 minutes and pierce bottom with a fork if crust bubbles. Remove from oven and cool crust 5- 10 minutes
Filling:
1. Spread preserves evenly over bottom once crust has cooled for 5 minutes.
2. Coarsely chop 4 tablespoons of the almonds and sprinkle across bottom of tart
3. Arrange peaches in an overlapping spiral pattern in shell, and sprinkle them with sugar and then lemon zest
4. Dot with butter and sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons almonds over top
5. Bake until peaches are tender, about 35 minutes.
6. Tart is best served warm or room temperature (my preference is warm) with ice cream, if desired.
Recipe from The Big Book of Backyard Cooking by Betty Rosbottom

2 comments:

  1. This looks great Gabriella.
    I think I'll try making it for the family when we're all in Nantucket next month.
    Hope you're summer has been as fun as it's been delicious!

    mary

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  2. I am definitly going to make this -we are having a big crowd on the Cape in a few weeks and ths will be perfect
    Katie Donovan

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