Nectarine And Almond Tart Recipes

NECTARINE TART

Steps:

• Blend flour, salt and 2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl or food processor. Dice 8 tablespoons of the butter. Use a pastry blender or two knives to blend flour mixture and butter, or pulse them together in a food processor to make a crumbly mixture. Beat the egg yolk with 3 tablespoons cold water. Dribble it over the flour mixture, then stir or pulse slowly until the mixture starts clumping together. A bit more water may be necessary. Gather dough in a loose ball and form into a disk on a lightly floured surface.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and line a 10-inch loose-bottom tart pan. Line pastry with a sheet of foil and spread pastry weights or dry beans on top. Bake 12 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter, cooking it on low until it turns a light nut brown. Pit fruit (except figs) and cut in eighths or, if fruit is small, fourths. After 12 minutes, remove foil and weights from pastry. Return pastry to oven and continue baking until it is lightly browned, another 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pastry from oven and increase temperature to 400 degrees.
• Brush pastry with preserves. Arrange fruit in tight concentric circles, starting by placing it around the perimeter, skin side down, against the vertical sides of the pastry and standing it up as much as possible. Brush with melted butter. Dust with remaining sugar. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes, until edges have browned but fruit has not collapsed. Cool before serving with crème fraîche.

NECTARINE AND ALMOND TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220C, fan 200°C Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Mix the custard, vanilla and ground almonds together.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry to a rectangle, about 23x30cm (9x12in), then lay it on the lined baking sheet. Spread the custard mix over the pastry, leaving just under 2.5cm (1in) space around the edges. Scatter the nectarine slices over the custard, then roll up the bare pastry edges to make a slight rim.
• Sprinkle over the icing sugar, then the flaked almonds. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the nectarines are tender and the pastry is crisp.
• Sieve the conserve then brush it carefully over the fruit and pastry edges. Serve hot with cream or creme fraiche.