Peach Tart
About as close as our food styling gets to steampunk. Milk, almond extract, sugar, oil, butter, peaches, flour, steel tart pan, and attitude.
I mix vegetable oil and...
olive oil.
Add some milk to the oils.
Cool, right?
After adding the almond extract, whisk these liquids untl they emulsify.
Then add the oil mixture to the flour, sugar, and salt, and blend with a fork.
Until it looks like this, a bit crumbly but moist.
I like to break it into clumps and flatten them so I have a sense of how I'll cover the base of the pan.
Then I get to work on the sides. It's easier to get the thickness right now than to wait until you've covered the base of the pan.
Then it's time to flatten out the rest and cover all those empty patches. Pressing with confidence matters here -- and be patient.
When it's done, it should look like this.
Begin filling the pastry with sliced peaches. I'm too lazy to peel the peaches. Sue me!
In the center, I cut the peach slices to fit. And see how snug the rest are. Get snug!
Time to make the topping. I'm about to pinch soft butter into a mixture of mostly sugar, with a little salt and flour mixed in.
Pinching!
Until it looks like this.
Then you shower it on top of the peaches. It will seem like too much. It's not. Use it all.
Slide it into the oven.
And await this!
And this!
Author Notes: Every cook needs a good dessert recipe that can be whipped up anywhere -- especially when you're away from your kitchen and its mixer and rolling pin and comforting gadgets. This peach tart is that recipe for me. To make it all you need is a knife, a bowl, and some kind of pan. A tart pan ideally, but I've even made it on a baking sheet with one side shored up with aluminum foil. And when I've been without a bowl, I've even mixed the dough right in the pan.
The dough is made with oil, milk and almond extract, and is pressed into the pan. There is no blind baking nonsense. You just top the dough with the peaches, and then shower it with a sugary, salty crumble and send it on its merry way into the oven.
I got the original recipe from my mother, who uses all vegetable oil in the crust. I use half vegetable oil and half olive oil. She neatly peels her peaches. Lazy kin, I do not. Hers is probably better, but you are stuck with me. I can promise you, however, that whoever you serve this to will not mind. —Amanda Hesser
Makes: one 11-inch tart; serves 8
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
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1 1/2
cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
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3/4
teaspoon kosher salt
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3/4
cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
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1/4
cup vegetable or canola oil
-
1/4
cup mild olive oil
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2
tablespoons whole milk
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1/2
teaspoon almond extract
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2
tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
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3
small ripe peaches (up to 5), pitted and thickly sliced (about 1/2-inch wide)
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stirring enables the salt and sugar to sift the flour, so you don’t need to sift it in advance. In a small bowl, whisk together the oils, milk and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork, just enough to dampen; do not over work it. Then, transfer the dough to an 11-inch tart pan (you can use a smaller one if needed), and use your hands to pat out the dough so it covers the bottom of the pan, pushing it up the sides to meet the edge. This will work if you pat firmly and confidently, but not if you curl your fingertips into the dough. It should be about 1/ 8-inch thick all around; trim and discard excess dough.
- In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the butter. (If your peaches are especially juicy, add 1 tablespoon additional flour.) Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly, with a mixture of fine granules and tiny pebbles.
- Starting on the outside, arrange the peaches overlapping in a concentric circle over the pastry; fill in the center in whatever pattern makes sense. The peaches should fit snugly. Sprinkle the pebbly butter mixture over top (it will seem like a lot). Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until shiny, thick bubbles begin enveloping the fruit and the crust is slightly brown. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or room temperature, preferably with generous dollops of whipped cream.
- A&M Smackdown / Your Best Peach Pie or Tart Contest Winner!
More Great Recipes:
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I made this last year with apricots in a glass baking dish and I used this as a bouncing off point for a galette/tart(?) with some large Fuyu persimmons tonight. When I actually followed the recipe, the crust and fruit looked similar to the picture here and came out well. Being a lazy and impatient baker tonight who was stuck on the idea of a galette, I mixed everything sans almond extract in one bowl. First, I combined the dry ingredients, then I made a well in the middle and added the oil and milk. I did find this to produce a pretty crumbly and dry dough (I'm guessing because I didn't mix the wet and dry separately first), so I ended up adding more milk until the dough became more moist and stuck together a little better. At that point, I dumped the dough on a baking sheet, made a loose ball, and patted it out into a circle-ish shape. I then added the fruit and sugar and folded over the edges galette-style. I baked it for 30 minutes at 425. I really liked the outcome and that this dough yielded to my whim. It did seem a little tougher than it should have been, but I think that's lazy user's error. I know this is not meant to be galette dough nor how you properly make a galette, but I was impressed it more or less worked and gave me an extra option for this dough. As others have noted, letting it cool really does help it firm up.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Thank you for sharing all this detail -- so great!
I have made this a few times now and I love that the crust is so easy and quick to make. It also takes great! If peaches are not in season, you can basically use any other fruit in this recipe. I have done apples, and then substituted half of the sugar for brown sugar and added cinnamon. Also great with plums. One thing you have to be careful about is cooking time. The juices from the fruit will make the middle of the tart crust very soggy if you do not allow this to bake for long enough.
Hello Laura,
I'd love to try this tart with apples. Could you let me know what apples you used? (i.e did you use tart apples such as the green 'Granny Smith' or did you use sweet apples such as the red, classic apples 'Jonathan' or 'Golden Delicious').
I'm famous for making Amanda's peach/apple and blueberry tart. The recipe is magic, and each time (by now a dozen), brings forth a yummy confection. I stick to the recipe (apple version too), no need to free from with perfection. My colleagues at today's pot luck, ate every slice. Thank you Amanda!
My grandmother taught me to use cornstarch, rather than flour, for juicy fruits and good old Minute Tapioca in the red box for the extra juicy fruits. Sets up quickly and no need to cool overnight.
Do you peel the peaches?
I've made this twice and didn't peel the peaches either time. The tart turned out well each time, and I thought the red blush from the peach skin looked nice.
And yes, you need to let it cool completely so it firms up.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Agreed -- no need to peel the peaches, I never do! The skins are tender enough and they also hold the juices together nicely after baking. +1 to letting the tart cool!
I made it and it is delicious. I will try it with peaches and plums. Thanks for sharing.
PLEASE CHILL OVERNIGHT OR YOU WILL HAVE SOUP! I THINK I WILL LEAVE OUT THE ALMOND EXTRACT NEXT TIME.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
With any fruit tart it's a good idea to let it cool so the juices have a chance to firm up.
can I make the crust dough in a food processor and just do the crumble by hand?
I'm sure you can, but I am THE WORST crust maker and I can throw this together in a couple of minutes. If you haven't made this before it is the easiest thing ever. The bonus is that you'll only need to wash one bowl if you hand mix crust. No exaggeration - crust comes together in minutes.
Just made this for the umpteenth time with nectarines that were almost rock-hard (too late to change plans). Definitely runny, despite cooling a bit...but since I'm scooping it into bowls and dolloping on the whipped cream, nobody every notices. Still worked amazingly well and several different people asked for the recipe. Question for Amanda: when you do apples or pears, do you use different flavoring? (e.g. vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg) w/ apples should they be sliced more thinly? We have a bunch of granny smiths that need to be used, and I'd normally make the Cook's pandowdy (incredible if you haven't tried it) but thought it might be interesting to experiment with this recipe. Thanks for such a foolproof staple!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
With apples, yes, I usually slice them thinly and add some cinnamon and nutmeg to the topping mixture. Here's to the umpteenth +1 version!
I used in-season Colorado peaches (very juicy) and the result was a bit of a runny mess, even though I added the extra tablespoon of flour :(
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Sorry to hear it. Did you let it cool at all before eating? It's definitely runny when hot, no matter what kind of peaches you use. But it firms up a bit when cool. I've made it a million times with no issue, but never with Colorado peaches, alas!
I made this yesterday to take to a potluck and was really pleased with the result! I loved how fast it came together and all the compliments I got from those who tried it. I made it in a 10-inch tart pan and it fit just fine. After it was almost completely cool, I found it released from the pan with only a little loosening in a few spots around the edges where some peach juice had stuck to the pan. I didn't have any trouble with an overly crumbly crust, having weighed my all-purpose flour (1.5 cups = 195 grams). The only small changes I made were: adding 1/4 tsp. almond extract and 1/4 tsp. vanilla to the crust because I ran out of the former (oops!), and using 2% milk rather than whole because that's what I had on hand. As a bonus, my peaches had a pronounced reddish blush on their skins, which added to the beauty of the finished product. I highly recommend this recipe and plan to make it often!
Another fun variation is with apples. I put cinnamon in the crust and apple pie spice in the topping. Used a peeler to peel apples but moved aside the slicer attachment and just used a gadget to push down to core and slice apples into 8 pieces. Fast and delicious.
Hello Helen,
I'd like to try this tart with apples. Could you let me know what apples you used? Was the baking time the same as with the peach version? (35 to 45 minutes?)
Thanks, I used small green summer apples we bought in the s. va. mtns. I don't know the variety, unfortunately. They were light green, not yellow. I set the timer for 40 mins and left them in maybe 2 mins more, but that in part is because the apples were smallish and i added extras. I made it for a party and people really liked it. Happy baking!
I made this last night and was very pleased with how it turned out. I've made oil pie crusts before and never been a fan. But this crust was flakey and had great flavor. What I did to the crust was add an extra tsp. of sugar and used half and half instead of milk as someone else suggested. Otherwise I followed exactly. I was sceptical,about leaving the skin on but you didn't even notice after it was baked. It baked into a gorgeous impressive dessert and my guests, who are part of my gourmet cooking club, all loved it! This is definitely a keeper!
I tried a variation on the crust. Mind you, i usually make it exactly as directed and it's wonderful. I needed to change it up a bit for the friends we were visiting. I replaced 1/2 c of the flour with oatmeal that i pulverized in the processor. Then I added a scant 1 cup - more like 3/4-7/8 of a cup- eyeballing it and a handful of raw almonds along with the tsp of salt and sugar. Everything was ground up fine in the processor. I proceeded with the recipe from there. It turned very well- nice and crisp and flavorful. I love the original but this is a very nice variation.
Helen, I finally got good peaches and this variation sounds fabulous! I know the original crust is good but I'm making your version today.
How did you like it?
So i bought peaches for this but they're hard. Should i wait to make it, aftrr the peaches hopefully mellow and ripen?
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Yes -- they don't have to be super soft but if they're firm I'd wait a day or two.
I was surprised how good the crust was I always do the rolled pastry pie crust and really like my recipe...(stopped looking for a better one good)..have never found an oil crust I liked...I used what I had so 1/2 c almond flour ( from making almond milk) and put panko on bottom as I had very juicy white peaches. I cut down the oil by about 1/4 c and used 1/2 and 1/2...excellent recipe! can't wait to do apples and other combos! thanks for sharing. Ps I used a metal pie tin and it came right out...perfect recipe for peaches, very much my kind of comfort food!! Even the poochy could not get a crumb from me ;>
Can you make the dough ahead and/or freeze it like typical pie dough? I like having some in the freezer for a quick dessert.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
I would also love to know this -- has anyone on this thread tried it?
I've never tried that, but the crust takes minutes to make so why bother? I use this type of crust for everything, from quiches to any kind of pie. Blind baking can be an issue because when it gets warm, it gets soft, but otherwise...
Delicious but the crust was a bit crumbly and the insides were very very watery, even though my peaches weren't that juicy
Made and ate this today. Easy and delicious. Made exactly according to recipe. The crust is tender and crisp without being sweet. The fruit really is the star in this tart.
Pie and margaritas!! Who knew? Awesome
This pie is gorgeous. I would serve it with a Ginger Peach Tea Margarita: http://www.bitememore.com...-
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