Did you know that almonds and peaches are closely related? It's true! So it's no wonder that they taste so good together. A match made with science!
This almond peach tart is a delicious way to appreciate the season's freshest peaches, which you can find everywhere from farmer's markets to grocery stores this time of year. I've made the recipe a few times already this year, and each time I've gotten rave reviews. It never lasts more than a day!
I also use whole wheat flour in the crust, which gives it a richer taste - and it's more healthy! Whole grains, as you probably know, have a lot of nutritional value, especially when compared to bleached white flour. So this tart, with its whole wheat crust, fresh peaches, and heart-healthy almonds, is almost a health food! Okay, maybe I'm stretching the truth a little here... only a little...
What are you waiting for? Let's get baking!
Start by making the crust. You need a total of 1 1/4 cups of flour, and I make it with half white and half whole wheat flour. If you only have white flour, however, that works as well. You have options!
If you choose to use some whole wheat flour, don't use a hard wheat like red or hard white. Instead, find a pastry flour, like Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. Flours like this are made with a wheat called soft white or soft white winter, which makes a finer-grained, softer flour perfect for pastries.
Add a teaspoon of salt, and mix well.
Next comes seven tablespoons of cold butter, cut into small pieces. It's important for the butter to be cold - this is a critical step in a lot of pastry recipes. It allows little bits of butter to stay intact until baking, when they melt and create little "pockets" in the dough. Cold butter = flaky pastry!
You need to cut in the butter. A pastry cutter is the best choice here, but you can use a stuff wire whisk if you find yourself cutter-less. The objective is to cut and work in the butter until the pastry is sort of crumbly.
Add in one egg yolk (sorry, I forgot to take a picture!) and 2 tablespoons of cold water. Then, gather the dough together. If it's still too dry, you can add a little more water. You want the dough to stick together, but not be too sticky. It takes a little practice to get it just right, but this particular dough is pretty forgiving, so don't worry if you're not an expert... yet!
Wrap the dough in waxed paper and stick it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to let it firm up. Use the time to clean up, or... forget cleaning up, I'd rather go read a book :)
Once the dough is chilled, roll it out on some waxed paper until it is about an inch or two larger around than a ten inch tart pan.
Drape the dough (on the wax paper) over the tart pan, and then carefully peel off the paper. Voila! Crust!
Press the dough into the sides, use your rolling pin to cut the edges of the dough off so you have a clean top, and then poke it with a fork. Stick it back in the fridge while you prepare the almond cream and the peaches.
Almond cream? Best thing I've heard all day. Let's make some!
Into a food processor goes 3/4 cup of almonds, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Then, grind up the almonds until they are powdery - but not so much that it turns into paste.
In a separate bowl, microwave 7 tablespoons of butter until it's soft but not liquid. Stir in a quarter cup white sugar and a quarter cup brown sugar. I love the molasses-y flavor of brown sugar - I think it gives a great depth to recipes.
Blend in one egg plus one egg yolk...
...1/2 teaspoon of vanilla...
...and finally, the almond flour. I will warn you, this stuff is addictive! I took one little taste, and seriously considered just eating the whole bowl rather than putting it in the tart. But as you can see from the pretty picture above, I got my act together, licked my fingers off guiltily, and quit eating the ingredients.
I have a real problem here. Cookie dough, almond cream... where will it end? Is there an "Eating Ingredients Anonymous" group around? Because I probably should be a member :)
Spread that delicious, delicious almond cream in your tart shell, and then it's back to the fridge while we prepare the final ingredient, the peaches.
You will need four ripe peaches. Freestone are the best to use because the flesh does not stick to the stone, and therefore makes slicing a lot easier. However, all I had were cling peaches, and with a little careful knife wielding, you can make them work just as well.
Start by setting a pot of water on to boil. It needs to be big enough to fit one peach, submerged, so choose your cookware accordingly! Also, prepare an ice water bath. While the water is boiling, using a sharp knife, make an "X" on the bottom of each peach.
One at a time, dip the peaches into the boiling water using a slotted spoon. Each gets its boiling bath for 20 seconds, and then gets dropped into the ice water.
Bird Girl, you ask, why are you making us boil our peaches?
Just you wait. This next part is magical.
Look at that! Starting with the "X" you made at the top, the skin will now peel cleanly off of the peaches. What did I tell you? Magical!
Slice your peaches into 1/2 inch pieces. Try to keep them intact, because we're going to make them into a pretty pattern on top of our tart.
This fancy little spiral is pretty easy - just make all the peach slices face the same way.
Fill in the outside with more peach slices, and now it's time to pop the tart into the oven! It bakes at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the pastry crust starts to get a little brown. Then, lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes until the almond cream is set.
Let it cool, and then you can pop it out of the tart pan to serve. How pretty!
Looks pretty, sure. But it tastes even better! Bon appetit!
Almond Peach Tart
Adapted from "Baking" ed. Carole Clements
Crust
1 1/4 c. flour or 3/4 c. white flour and 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. salt
7 T. cold butter, cut into chunks
1 egg yolk
2-3 T. ice water
Filling
4 large peaches
2/3 c. blanched almonds
2 T. flour
7 T. butter, softened
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour and salt; cut in butter with a pastry cutter. Add egg yolk and 2 T water. Gather into a ball; if necessary, add the remaining tablespoon of water. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. When chilled, roll out on waxed paper and transfer to a 10" tart pan. Trim the edges, prick the bottom with a fork, and refrigerate until needed.
Place the almonds and flour into a food processor and chop until the mixture resembles a fine powder. In a separate bowl, mix together softened butter and sugars. Add the egg and egg yolk, and the vanilla. Stir in the almond flour. Spread mixture evenly over the bottom of the tart shell and re-refrigerate.
Cut a small "X" on the bottom of each piece, and drop them one at a time into boiling water for 20 seconds. Transfer to an ice bath. Peel the skins off the peaches, using a knife if necessary, and then cut each peach into 1/2" slices.
Arrange peach slices on top of the almond cream in the tart shell. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the crust starts to brown. Then, lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes or until the almond cream is set. Let cool before serving.
Did you like this post? You'll also enjoy Peachberry Tart!
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