If you have ever stood in a peach orchard at the peak of the season, inhaling the scent of ripeness, you’ll never buy a hard supermarket peach ever again. Tree ripened peaches have overtones of almond, which is not a coincidence considering they are both from the same genus of plants, the Rose family.
The height of peach season is the best time to make this recipe for Peach with Almond Cream Tart. A buttery crust, almond cream filling and perfectly ripe peaches, this is the perfect summer dessert to serve with vanilla ice cream. The sweet pastry crust does not require pre-chilling like other crust recipes, rolling out effortlessly. Pre bake before filling.
Peach Almond Cream Tart | Makes one tart – 9″ square or rectangular pan
One 9 inch partially baked sweet pasty shell (see below)
½ cup whole almonds
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 egg white at room temperature
4 ripe peaches, skins removed and cut into slices (about 3 cups)
1/3-cup elderberries (or 1/2 cup raspberries)
1-teaspoon cinnamon
1-tablespoon sugar
1-tablespoon maple syrup
Preheat the oven to 400*
- Prepare the crust (recipe below) roll out to a size slightly larger than the tart pan. Gently roll in half and lift into the tart pan, smoothing out to fit completely within. Using a rolling pin, trim off the edges of the dough to the level of the tart pan – verses with a traditional piecrust where you would roll and crimp. Place in the preheated oven and bake until a light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove and cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 350*
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add almonds and bring back to a simmer for 2 minutes. Drain, and rinse the almonds under cool water, and slip of the skins resulting in a pure white nut. Tamp dry with a towel.
- Place in the bowl of a food processer fitted with a blade, and whir the almonds into a powder. Add the softened butter and sugar, to blend, then the egg and egg white, blend until creamy.
- Spoon the almond cream into the pre-baked pastry shell.
- In a small bowl, combine the peaches stir in the cinnamon, sugar and maple syrup. Spoon and arrange the fruit on top of the almond cream, layering slices one way and then the other for a decorate overlapping pattern. Sprinkle the elderberries evenly over the top, and remaining juices.
- Place the tart in the preheated oven and bake until the almond cream is golden brown and mounds up around the fruit, about 40 minutes
- Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Slip it out of the tart pan and slice. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Pastry Crust Shell | One 9 inch sweet pastry crust
1 1/4 cup white unbleached flour
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar (granulated sugar infused with vanilla bean)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
6 tablespoons iced cold water
Place the flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. With the motor running, drop the butter one small piece at a time allowing a few seconds in between to fully incorporate. Once the flour is crumbly, add one tablespoon of ice water while the motor runs, and continue to add ice water slowly until the dough comes together in a ball. Turn off the motor. Do not over mix or it will be tough.
With your hands, scoop out onto a lightly floured board and gently press together into a ball. With a rolling pin, flatten evenly starting from the center working out, to a size that will fit the tart pan including a small overhang. Fold in half and gently drape the dough into the pan, pressing to fit evenly. Follow directions above.
