I went to the Greenmarket that takes place every Sunday in our neighborhood and there was a lot more stuff now that summer is upon us. Lots of snap peas and squash and greens. I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired though and the only thing that really caught my eye was some blueberries and some peaches from Jersey. The peaches smelled fantastic so I bought some of both.
I don’t bake much so fruit in our house is usually just eaten as-is. But I wanted to make something out of these things so I Googled “peaches and blueberries” and was surprised to find so many recipes for this combination of fruits. There were some interesting cakes and tarts, most containing some kind of cream cheese or something like it. I wasn’t going back out for more ingredients so I figured I’d just make a plain tart… a pastry crust with fruit pilled in it sounded easy enough and I wanted to make something simple that wouldn’t compete so much with the fruits.
I don’t have my own pastry recipe so I’m dependent on others for that. I found a recipe for Pate Brisee (which seems suspiciously like a recipe for pie crust only with butter) in our copy of In The Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley. It calls for butter, sugar, salt, flour and water all of which I had on hand so I figured I was set. According to the recipe, the pastry is to be partially pre-cooked in a tart pan prior to adding any fruit. I have no tart pan. Back when Terri and I lived in a house with a big kitchen, we had an assortment of tart pans which Terri may have used at some point but I never did. These were among the many items we deemed unnecessary when we moved to Manhattan so I was out of luck.
One of the reasons I don’t bake much is just this sort of thing. Baking requires exact measurements, timing and equipment which basically goes against everything I stand for in the kitchen. I use recipes sometimes but I rarely follow them exactly which I can get away with in most cases. But mess up even a little in baking and you can ruin whatever it is you are cooking. Not getting to experiment at least a little sucks all the fun out of cooking for me so I figured, what the hell, I’ve seen a “rustic” tart. I’ll make the pastry dough, roll it out, pile the fruit in the middle, fold the edges up around it and bake it. If it gets ruined, I’m only out $8 worth of fruit and it gives me one more reason to say I don’t bake.
It definitely came out “rustic” looking but kind of pretty and it tasted amazing! Terri gave it a big thumbs up and I’m calling this one a success especially with my fears of pastry experimentation. I’m not sure I can really call it a tart but whatever you want to call it, I’m adding it to my repertoire.
Ingredients:
Pastry dough:
1 1/4 cups all-pupose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, in small cubes
3 – 5 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
4 medium peaches
1 carton blueberries (1 1/2 – 2 cups)
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
Glaze:
1/4 cup of apricot preserves
1 tablespoon of water
Mix dry pastry ingredients in a bowl or food processor with a blade attachment. Add cold butter cubes and if using a food processor, pulse until the largest pieces of the butter are the size of large peas. If mixing by hand, use a pastry cutter or two knives.
If using a food processor, move the mixture to a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of water and using your fingers, quickly mix the water into the dough until it holds together. Add 1-2 more tablespoons of water if the dough is not holding together. Form dough into a disc about an inch thick. wrap in plastic and chill for two hours.
While dough chills, peel and cut peaches into small sections. Put in bowl with blueberries and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of sugar. Cover and let the mixture rest at room temperature.
Remove dough from refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. While the dough tempers, drain juice from the fruit into a small bowl and whisk in two tablespoons corn starch until mixture is smooth. Heat the apricot preserves and one tablespoon of water until it is thin enough to brush on the tart.
Roll dough out until it is about a quarter of an inch thick and a half inch or so larger than your pie pan. Place in pie pan with edges hanging over. Glaze the bottom of the pastry before adding the filling. Pile the fruit in the center of the pastry and fold the edges in on it. There should be a few inches of uncovered fruit in the center of the tart. Pour the cornstarch and juice mixture into the middle of the fruit. Brush the entire top of the pastry and the fruit with the apricot glaze.
Bake at 400 degrees on center rack for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let cool 20 minutes before serving.