Summer

Mini Rustic Peach Tart

by:
August 22, 2011
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves two
Author Notes

I am a big fan of one sitting desserts. If there is a dessert occupying space in this house it will also be occupying space in my mind...and my belly. Yes, I admit it, I have a sweet tooth. So if I can make a dessert that will serve exactly the amount of people that I need it to without having any leftovers I'm a happy girl.

Recently on Pintrest I saw a rustic pear tart. Following the link I was brought to a recipe on Eating Well. The rustic pear tart was to serve two. Besides desserts that are small I also love desserts that are called "rustic". Rustic means there will be less dishes to wash at the end. So I saved the recipe.

When I looked over the pear tart recipe I decided to tweak it a bit since pears won't really be coming into season until September. I decided to substitute the pears for peaches, which are in peak season here right now. I love fresh fruit flavors and don't like to add a whole lot of spices because in the end it takes away from the pure fruit flavor. So I omitted the spices and just used a vanilla bean instead. - Dabblings —Dabblings

Test Kitchen Notes

This dandy little gem of a fruit tart solves the age-old "problem" of having more pie in the house than its two occupants really need. Plus, it's downright delicious! The perfectly flaky crust tastes sublime, but doesn't require any chilling, so the tart comes together in a flash. And adding seeds from a vanilla bean directly into the sliced peach gives the tart that unmistakable 'the world is a great place' aroma. What a great recipe. Peach season is just about over here, but I'm happily looking forward to making this using apples and pears this fall. - AntoniaJames —AntoniaJames

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 large ripe peach; peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon plus 1/2 cup all purpose flour; divided
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon plus 1/4 tsp. of salt; divided
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 3 tablespoons of butter; chilled
  • 1 tablespoon of lard; chilled
  • 2 tablespoons of ice water
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Toss the peach slices, 1 tsp. of flour, sugar, 1/8. tsp. of salt in a medium bowl. Split the vanilla bean down the middle. Using the back of a knife, scrape out the seeds and fold them in with the peaches. Set aside.
  3. In another medium bowl whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of flour with the 1/4 tsp. of remaining salt. Cut in the butter and the lard until the flour looks crumbly. Sprinkle the water in and incorporate it with a fork. You want the mixture to stay together when you press it with the fork. You may need to add a little more water.
  4. On a silicone baking mat or some parchment paper dusted with flour, roll the dough out into a circle about 10 inches across. Move the silicone or parchment paper with the dough on it to the baking sheet.
  5. Lay the peach slices in a spiral shape overlapping them slightly. Make sure to leave a one inch space between the peaches and the edge of the dough. Then fold the edges of the dough up over the peaches leaving an opening in the middle. Spoon any leftover juices from the bowl into the center of the peaches.
  6. Bake until the tart is lightly browned and the juices are bubbling in the middle, this takes somewhere between 40 minutes - 1 hour. Allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes. I made mine ahead and served it at room temperature.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • Bevi
    Bevi
  • Dessert's On Me
    Dessert's On Me
  • Sagegreen
    Sagegreen
  • lorigoldsby
    lorigoldsby

6 Reviews

AntoniaJames September 8, 2011
Just a follow up comment to my EP review. I only had small peaches, so I used about 1 and 3/4 of them on the tart. That's how I got so many slices! Also, I rolled the crust out initially on a heavily floured counter, then put it on the parchment, as I have problems with the paper catching and wrinkling when I try to roll out directly onto it. The flavor of the crust, and its flakiness, are just perfect. Oh, one last thing: I sprinkled just a touch of sugar on the crust before baking, out of habit, which gave it a little something extra. ;o)
 
Bevi September 1, 2011
This is a very romantic dessert!
 
Dessert's O. August 22, 2011
With a house full of little ones, easy recipes are usually the best ones for me. This is def going into my recipe book. Yummy!
 
Sagegreen August 22, 2011
I like your thinking! Delicious recipe, too.
 
lorigoldsby August 23, 2011
I second that! love the idea of making it just for one or two people! Nice to know that other's hear the siren's call of an uneaten dessert!
 
AntoniaJames September 8, 2011
"Siren's call of uneaten dessert" is right, lorigoldsby! You describe the situation perfectly. ;o)