Creamy Peach Tart with Smoky Almond Crust

Sometimes when I read other people's food blogs I feel like all they ever do is post dessert recipes and I think to myself, "How are these people not HUGE? Don't they eat anything besides sugar?"... and then I do a little self-reflection and realize that in the last month I have posted cookie, pie, bar, cake, whatever recipes and precious little in the way of anything else. Hrmmmm.

Don't think this is everything the Robber and I eat. I think there are a number of reasons why I'm more likely to post a new dessert recipe than a non-dessert recipe, most of which revolve around the Robber's preferences, my own spirit of adventure, our eating patterns at work, and our love of hummus, goat cheese, bell peppers, pita bread, and grilled meat. But excuses aside, perhaps we do eat a bit much too sugar. Even when we are sharing.

This following recipe we did not share, but we did enjoy it, even the Robber who was deeply deeply skeptical of the smoky almonds in the crust until he tasted it and realized you can't even tell and that the filling was much akin to the beloved "cheesecake pie" of his childhood. I baked this in a pie plate because I don't have a springform pan (see previous post) and if I were making this again, would 1.5 times the recipe to make more filling and just turn it into a pie. We replaced the peaches with nectarines with good results and the Robber happily ate a third of it while I was sleeping last night.

Mildly adapted from Food and Wine Magazine August 2011.

Ingredients:

2 C. vanilla wafer cookies

1/2 C. smoked almonds

6 T. sugar

5 T. unsalted butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 C. sour cream

1 egg

2-3 firm, ripe medium peaches, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Using a food processor or other instrument, crush wafer cookies and almonds until fine crumbs are obtained. Combine wafer crumbs, almond crumbs, and 2T. sugar. Add melted butter and stir until the crumbs are evenly moistened.

2. Press the crumbs into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a 9" springform pan. Bake for ten minutes at 350F until the crust is set.

3. While the crust is baking, combine cream cheese, sour cream, egg, and 2T. of the sugar and blend with electric mixer until smooth. Pour the cheese mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, until set. 

4. Allow to cool slightly and transfer to freezer to chill, about 15 minutes. (Do not allow to freeze thoroughly.)

5. In a bowl, toss the peaches with the remaining 2T. of sugar. Arrange the peaches in 2 concentric circles over the custard. Remove the ring, cut the tart in wedges and serve. 

Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler/Cake

I made this a while back when the nectarines were on sale and we were invited to go to a friend's birthday affair. I ended up getting busy and couldn't make it for the event on time, but had purchased the nectarines and they were ripe and fussing to be used so I made it the next day for the Robber and me. The combination of flavors is satisfying in a subtle way, they all blend together without a grand pronouncement, just deliciousness, and a hint of browned butter. The texture of the cake was not satisfying for me as cake, and was not biscuity enough to pull off being a cobbler. Something in between. A satisfying way to bake with nectarines, but not likely to get made again too soon with the end of summer coming. What I might do however is use the almond topping part again-- that is a nice little tool of goodness.

From Mark Bittman:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/dining/brown-butter-nectarine-cobblercake-recipe.html?_r=1&ref=dining

Ingredients:

For the fruit filling:

3 C. fresh nectarines or peaches in 1/2-inch slices, about 1 pound

3/4 C. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

4 T. unsalted butter

For the cake:

3/4 C. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

3/4 C. buttermilk

For the nut topping:

1/4 C. sliced almonds

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

2 T. Demerara sugar

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the fruit slices, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer, then take the pan off the heat.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until it smells very nutty, turns golden, and flecks of dark brown appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the brown butter into an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the batter on top of the brown butter, use a spatula to even out the batter but be careful not to mix it into the butter. Scatter the nectarine slices and juice on top of the batter without stirring. Sprinkle with the almonds, nutmeg and Demerara sugar. Bake until golden brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Nectarine Shortcakes

Shortcakes/scones. Whatever, these were delicious. I'm really loving fruit in scones. The scone base here isn't anything really interesting, but the texture is a good fit for the nectarines and the overall effect is just warm and not too sweet and comforting. I would definitely make these again (not true of all scones recipes which eventually I will blog about). Don't look too much at the other recipes on the slide show though or all you will want to do is bake with fruit.

Note: I don't know what kind of nectarines they are using, but 4 is way too many if you use nice large ones. I cut up two and thought that would be just right but since the recipe said 4.... after the third nectarine I knew I had to stop, and even then the cakes were overloaded and I'm even usually a more is more girl when it comes to jazzing up scones but not in this case. Two nice big nectarines should be sufficient.

From Martha Stewart, of all places:
http://www.marthastewart.com/315190/nectarine-shortcakes?czone=food/produce-guide-cnt/summer-produce-recipes&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/nectarine-recipes#slide_12

Ingredients:

1/2 pound nectarines (about 4), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/4 C. plus 2 tsp. granulated sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 C. heavy cream, plus more for brushing (used light whipping cream)

Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine nectarines, lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons granulated sugar. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture forms small pieces. Stir in cream. Fold in nectarine mixture.

3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into an 8 1/2-inch round. Using a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cut out 8 rounds, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with cream; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Remaining shortcakes can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 day.

Note: I just globbed these out onto parchment paper without patting and using a cutter, it was fine.