Rustic Peach Almond Tart

i cannot get enough of peaches. i took a dessert over to have dinner with my family and of course it was a peach dessert.

 

earlier this week, i saw giada make a rustic fig and almond tart and i knew that would be perfect with peaches instead of figs.

and perfect it was served warm with a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream. wow. the almond cream was really the touch that put this over the top. i imagine you could make this with whatever fruit is in season. it would be fantastic with blueberries, apricots, strawberries, or cherries. of course, i'll have to try it with figs too.

my vanilla bean ice cream recipe can be found here. i am glad there were exactly 8 people to share this tart. otherwise, i may have eaten 1/2 by myself.

Rustic Peach Almond Tart
(serves 6 to 8) adapted from giada de laurentiis' fig and almond tart

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 lemon, zested
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons ice water, if needed, i just used 2 tbs
3 1/2 ounces almond paste, cut into pieces
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons raw honey
4 peaches, peeled and sliced into thin wedges

in a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt until just combined.

add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.

then add ice water 1 tbs at a time until dough forms (you may not need all 3 tablespoons).

dump dough onto plastic wrap. form into a ball, flatten and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

chill for at least an hour.

meanwhile, in clean food processor, pulse almond paste until finely ground.

add mascarpone cheese, vanilla extract and honey and puree until smooth.

refrigerate until needed.

preheat oven to 400 degrees F. roll out dough in a circle until approximately 1/3" thick. spread almond cream onto dough leaving roughly and inch border on all sides.

lay peach wedges in a circular pattern until all almond cream is covered. i like to overload it with peaches because they will cook down.

fold edges of crust over peaches.

bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes until crust is golden brown. let cool for 5 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream.