Dulce de Leche Peach Tart

Peach season is almost over here in Ontario, so I thought I would take one last kick at a peach dessert. As soon as I found this recipe, I made some dulce de leche so I could try this one out. The flavour of the tart was amazing, but my peaches were so juicy that the presentation was lacking -- a lot. While it is much easier to blanch the peaches, I highly recommend peeling them with a potato peeler. This will keep your peaches in tact, but you may also want to let them sit in a colander for awhile to get rid of the extra juices. There is no thickener in the filling, so no matter how long you leave it, it will not firm up -- trust me.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling:

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dulce de leche
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 5-6 large ripe peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp dulce de leche
• 1 tbsp sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• To make the crust: Cream butter and sugar for a minute or two until well mixed, but still stiff.
• Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and briefly mix with your hands until crumbly and moist enough to hold together when pressed.
• Press into an 8 or 9 inch tart pan, making sure all sides are even and strong.
• Bake for about 10 minutes or just until the sides of the crust start to brown. Remove and let cool.
• To make the filling: In a mixer or food processor add the butter, brown sugar, dulce de leche, egg yolk, vanilla and salt. Mix until light colored and smooth.
• Spread the filling into the crust.
• Put the peach slices in a colander to drain excess juices for a minute or two. (Trust me on this, you don't want super juicy peaches or the tart will be runny)
• Place the peach slices on top of the tart, overlapping each other so that they are very close together. Make circles of peach slices until the entire tart is covered. 
• Brush 2 tbsp of dulce de leche evenly over the peaches. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until peaches are caramel colored and the tart is heated through. Remove and let cool.
• Serve warm or at room temperature

Adapted from Back to the Cutting Board

Summer Fruit Crostata

When I make my flakey pastry dough, it makes five shells. This means I get two double crust pies and one pie bottom. Last time, I made butter tarts with the left over shell, and this time, I delved into the rustic pie or what Ina Garten calls a Crostata.

Hours before we had company for dinner, I pulled the pastry out of the freezer, let it thaw, threw in some fruit, loosely "closed" it and baked it. It was definitely rustic looking but something I would be proud to take as a dessert to a barbecue or picnic.

In mine, I used peach and blueberries because that's what I had on hand, but you could use any kind of pie filling and it would be great. Glad I have this quick and easy dessert in my back pocket for emergencies!


Ingredients

• 1 flakey pie crust
• 1 pound ripe peaches, peeled
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1 tbsp flour, plus 1/4 cup
• 1 tbsp sugar, plus 1/4 cup
• 1/4 tsp orange zest
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 4 tbsp cold butter, diced

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Roll the pastry into a large circle on a lightly floured surface and transfer to sheet pan.
• For the filling, cut the peaches into wedges and mix with blueberries. Toss them with one tbsp of flour, one tbsp of sugar, the orange zest and the orange juice. Place the mixed fruit on the dough circle, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border. 
• Combine the 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, salt and butter. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Rub with your fingers until it starts to hold together. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Gently fold the border of the pastry over the fruit, pleating it to make an edge.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Let cool for five minutes then use two large spatulas to transfer to a wire rack.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa at Home