Peach, Almond and Thyme Tart
"Oh dear, it has been a long time since I’ve been meaning to put this peach, almond and thyme tart recipe up. It’s all about the lack of ‘thime’?. With thyme or no time or the other way around, here it is this delicious dessert now and I can only say it’s such an amazing recipe. It is an easy recipe to make and the end result it’s quite impressive not to mention the taste and how beautiful and rewarding this peach almond and thyme tart is. Okkaaay, since you are in the mood for a little baking this weekend, get your apron out and oven gloves on and let’s get baking!!"
Notes* I have made this exact recipe with pears and plums. Delicious. Prunes, figs, orange, kumquats, berries will also work nicely too.
* canned fruits have to be well drained.
Serves8
Preparation Time15 min
Chilling Time5 min
Cooking Time40 min
Ingredients
- For the pastry:250 g spelt flour
- 125 g unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 50 g icing sugar
- 1/2 orange zest only
- 2 medium egg yolks
- 1 tbsp buttermilk or yoghurt
- 1 pinch salt
- For the tart:200 g canned peaches sliced
- 3 peaches fresh stones removed and sliced
- 125 g unsalted butter softened
Instruction
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Preheat the oven to 200°/180°C fan assisted or 375°F and grease a tart tin or pan (I used an 11 inch Pyrex glass form) with butter or oil.
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To make the pastry start by putting the flour into a bowl and mix together the butter, icing sugar, orange zest until it looks like breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg yolks with a pinch of salt and the yoghurt or the buttermilk. Mix further until it begins to come together. Take out on a floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Roll the pastry out into a circle with a rolling pin till it gets to the thickness of a pound coin (3mm).
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Transferring the pastry into the tin can be a bit tricky so fold the pastry on the rolling pin and transfer it gently into the tin. Once arranged, roll the rolling pin over the top of the tart tin to cut off the excess pastry. With a fork, lightly prick the bottom allover and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once it has chilled, cover with parchment, put the baking beans and blind bake for about 10 minutes. Take out of the oven when ready and allow to rest for 5-10 mins after carefully removing the baking beans with the parchment (careful, they’re hot!)
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While the pastry is baking let’s make the filling by creaming together the butter and the sugar until pale and smooth. Add one egg at the time and mix further, then add the salt, almond extract, the finely chopped thyme (leaving a pinch for decorating), the ground almonds and mix further until it has nicely homogenised. You may need to scrape around the sides in between adding the ingredients.
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Spoon the conserve peaches(well drained) into the bottom of the tart followed by the almond filling smoothing out the edges and then followed by the fresh peaches arranged nicely on top.
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Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 180°C/1 60°C fan assisted gas mark 4 until golden or lightly browned.
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Allow to cool and optionally sprinkle over some icing sugar and the left over fresh thyme.