Peach+Plum Tart

The locally-grown peaches have been exceptionally good these year, and the plums have just come in, so I felt inspired to make a pretty and delicious combination tart with decorative raspberries round the edge.

This tart takes about 2 hours altogether, including blind-baking the pastry shell;  it serves 8-10, depending how polite everyone is.  The tart will keep a day or so in the fridge, well-wrapped; as with chocolate truffles, storage is not a problem.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
120g (one cup) gluten-free flour
50g (1/2 cup) ground almonds
170g (1½ sticks or 6 oz) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces
A good pinch of sea salt
1-2 oz plant milk, as required
Optional:  50g (2 oz) sugar

For the filling:
2 large ripe peaches, soaked in peach schnapps
1 ripe plum
20 raspberries
Glaze:  40-50g (2 Tbsp) red jam, 50g water (or use the peach schnapps), 30g sugar

Equipment:  food processor and 9” spring form pan, foil and spare pennies

Method:

1.   Start by slicing the peaches in thin wedges; place in a bowl with a dollop of peach snaps and a sprinkle of sugar (if desired).  Do the same with the plum.  (For the plum I used a dollop of lavender syrup instead of peach schnapps).  Set aside while you make the pastry.

2.   Oil the bottom and sides of your spring form pan – I use Pam spray.  Set aside.

3.   Place the gluten-free flour, ground almonds, salt, and chilled butter in the food processor. Add the sugar, if used.  Pulse briefly until the mixture forms a coarse meal.  Do not over-process.  Add a dollop or two of plant milk, just enough to moisten the pastry.  Pulse once.

4.   Pour the pastry into the prepared pan, and pat evenly along the bottom and 1” up the sides. Make sure the edges are even.  Pop into the freezer for 30 minutes.

5.   Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 12” x 12” piece of foil with oil, and press onto the pastry and up the sides;  weight the foil with pennies or baking beans.

6.   Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top edges are opaque and beginning to brown. Remove the foil and pennies/beans, and repair the edges if necessary.  Then put the crust back in the oven for ten minutes until the bottom of the crust is just done – it will look opaque rather than translucent.

7.   Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack. Leave the oven on!

8.   Arrange the peach slices radially up against the edge of the pastry. Add the slices of pear in the center.  Arrange the raspberries around the edge.

9.   Meanwhile, heat the peach schnapps (from the marinated peaches) in a small pan, with a tablespoon of sugar. Boil it up into a syrup, and add two tablespoons red jam – I used some cherry jam I had on hand.  Whisk the syrup and jam together until smooth, and spoon it over the tart as a glaze.

10.   Bake for 40 minutes until the peaches are soft when poked with a fork.

11.   Cool on a wire rack for about an hour before serving.  Remove the edge of the spring form pan and (if desired) transfer to a serving plate or cutting board. Serve in wedges;  for extra lusciousness, hand round with whipped cream or ice cream.

Here is a printable file for this Peach+Plum Tart.