PEACHY KEEN: PEACH TART WITH GINGER AND ALMOND

Peaches are in short supply this year.  This recipe delivers big peach flavor but uses just four to five peaches.  The no-roll pastry is an easy start to my Peach Tart paired with Ginger and Almond.

Peach season came late this year.  We were at the beach over the Fourth of July and the farm stands, usually overflowing with yellowy-pink globes of sticky sweetness, were replete with berries and tomatoes but no peaches.  So going home, when we passed a peach stand off the highway, we stopped and bought a small basket full. It was expensive!

Not having an over-abundance of peaches but still wanting to make a pie, I opted for a tart which uses four to five peaches instead of my usual ten to fifteen.

I took the no-roll pastry from my apple tart   and adjusted it for this delicate summer fruit.  Gone is the robust molasses flavor of brown sugar and the punchy bite of cinnamon.  Almond and ginger take their place.

I mixed the pastry together in a bowl,

Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center and and the wet ingredients. Use a fork to stir it in

put it in the tart pan and, using the flat of my hand, pressed it evenly across the base and up the sides.

Peaches are very juicy and need something to prevent a liquid filling. So I made a crumble topping of flour, butter, sugar and ginger.  Using my fingers, I kneaded the butter into the dry ingredients until it looked like a pebbly sand.

Finally, standing at my kitchen island on a lovely sunny summer day with Miranda Lambert singing on the radio, I arranged the peaches on top of the tart pastry

and sprinkled the crumble thickly over the top.

When it came out of the oven?

It was a vision of loveliness.  The topping had mostly disappeared into the juices. The bright yellow peach slices  glowed in the sea of pink, like a summer sunset.

It tasted like the best of summer!

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PEACH TART WITH ALMOND AND GINGER

Servings 8 people

Author Susan Murray, www.awomancooksinasheville.com

Ingredients

FOR THE PASTRY

• 1 ½ c flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ cup oil
• 2 tbsp milk
• ½ tsp almond extract

FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING

• ¾ c sugar
• 3 tbs flour
• 1 tsp ginger
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbs butter
• 4-5 ripe peaches

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 424 degrees

MAKE THE PASTRY

1. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour into it the oil, milk, and almond extract. Use a fork to stir it together until it holds together. Pour it into an 11” tart pam. Use the flat of your hand to press it into the pan evenly and up the sides.

MAKE THE CRUMBLE TOPPING

1. Combine the sugar, flour, salt, ginger, and butter in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the mixture. Use your fingers to break the butter into the dry ingredients, continuing until it is like pebbly sand.

ASSEMBLE THE TART

1. Peel the peaches and slice them into thick slices, 6-8 slices per peach. Arrange the peach slices on top of the pastry, starting on the outside and circling them around. Make a small circle inside the first circle and finish with small pieces cut to fill the center.
2. Sprinkle the crumble topping all over the peaches.
3. Bake the tart for 35-40 minutes until the juices are bubbling and the crust is browned. Cool completely before serving.

Recipe Notes

Note: if your peaches are very juicy, add 1 tbsp corn starch to the topping